The Kingpin and the Carnivore
by MirrorImage27
Summary: Chie Satonaka was many things. Martial arts extraordinare, devourer of all things meat, defender of the weak and helpless. She certainly wasn't the maiden in distress or girly girl type. Yet he never expected her to be. Yu/Chie
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey guys, I'm back! It's been a long time, but I'm glad to be back here! I've been on a bit of Persona binge (as you can see the title is a reference to P4A) lately and couldn't help but write an MC/Chie fic. Anyways, I've tried to add stuff here and there so as not to be a straight retell of P4G (for those curious, yes I will be including some of the new Golden scenes when I get there). Anyways let me know what you guys think, constructive criticism is appreciated! –M/I**

The classroom brimmed with anticipation, with the new second years eagerly gossiping about the latest rumors. Chie didn't pay much attention to the rabble, having learned to tune out such talk over years of practice, although she did make out something about some transfer student. The poor guy had no idea what he was about to step into. She sighed inwardly at her current predicament, which at the moment couldn't seem to get any worse. Thankfully her best friend, Yukiko Amagi was also in her class which made the situation slightly more tolerable.. Chie sighed inwardly. _Great, not only is school back in session, but now I have to fail all my classes with King Moron as my homeroom teacher. _

Mr. Morooka, more commonly known as King Moron by the student body, was infamous for his unending rants and the appearance of having hatred for all students, with his sole purpose seeming to be the undoing of them all.

Chie's thoughts were interrupted by Yukiko turning around in her seat. "Hey Chie," The raven haired girl began, "Did you hear the rumors? They say that there's a transfer student starting school here today. They even say he's from the city," Yukiko finished, her concluding comment tinged with a hint of curiosity.

Chie's interest was piqued at that part as well. "Really? So just like Yosuke huh?" Chie responded. Yukiko nodded in response. _Man that guy's probably gonna be bored stiff out here in the boonies, there's hardly anything to do out here other than go to Junes._ Her gaze shifted to Yosuke, a boy who had also transferred from the city last year and had become widely known as the son of the manager of huge department store Junes, earning him quite a reputation in the small town as the downfall of the old central shopping district. _Hopefully he's more mature than Yosuke, that loser still hasn't given me back my Trial of the Dragon... If he lost it not even a steak would be able to save him._ Chie narrowed her eyes unconsciously at the thought.

Becoming bored, Chie shifted her attention to a group of giggling school girls, who seemed to have confirmed the rumors of the transfer student being a guy, much to the chagrin of the male students. "I hope he's cute," one of them commented. "Yeah," another agreed, "It'd be a nice change of pace compared to all of these dorks." Chie rolled her eyes at the groups antics, she could never picture herself as on of those 'gossip girl' types, and she couldn't stand to be in their prolonged presence.

Mr. Morooka was quick to stamp out the activity with a loud yell, "Will you idiots stop fawning like a bunch of love struck bimbos! The transfer student'll be here any minute now and I see any of you so much as check him out and you go straight on my shit list!" As if on cue, moments later, a silver haired boy entered the class. "Ah," Mr. Morooka began, "here's the punk now, go on and introduce yourself loser."

If the new kid was bothered by Mr. Morooka's remarks he made no show of it, his voice coming out calm and collected, "My name is Yu Narukami," He bowed his head slightly and continued, "It's nice to meet you all." Chie examined the newcomer with curiosity. He seemed to have an almost magnetic personality, no doubt supplemented by his good looks. Chie mentally slapped herself at her last thought, suppressing a blush at her unusually 'girly' thoughts. Meanwhile Mr. Morooka went on and on about how the new kid better not hit on girls and stuff. Eventually the majority of the classes eyes were glazed over, not even bothering to continue listen to the teacher's never ending tirade.

Finally taking the initiative, Chie raised her hand, interrupting King Moron mid-rant. "Huh?" Mr. Morooka, apparently unaware of himself getting carried away as he finally took notice of her. "You!" He said pointing at her, "Whaddaya want!"

"Excuse me sir," Chie began politely, she certainly didn't want to end up on King Moron's 'shit list.' "Can the transfer student sit here?" She gestured to the vacant seat right next to her.

"Yeah, yeah," Morooka said, waving his hand dismissively. "Go on," He barked at the new kid, "sit your ass down!"

The new kid, Narukami rather, approached her desk, taking the place next to her. "Thanks for the save back there," He said appreciatively.

"Heh, no problem, he's the worst isn't he?"

"You don't say?" Narukami asked with a tinge of sarcasm and a raised eyebrow.

"I'm Chie Satonaka," Chie said, introducing herself, "Looks like we'll be stuck with each other for the year, huh?"

"Nice to meet you Chie," Yu said, smiling as he did, "It looks that way though, looks like it could've been worse though," he continued, gesturing at the gossipers Chie had noticed earlier.

_ Man, those girls are looking at him like a piece of juicy steak!_ Her stomach growled faintly with hunger at the thought, and soon Chie found herself drifting into a meat filled reverie as Mr. Morooka went on and on about moral purity or something other.

By the time Chie had returned to her senses, class had ended. _Wonder if I can snag some steak after I talk with the new guy a bit._

Suddenly the PA notification came on, warning of some kind of incident and encouraging all students to go home immediately. Noticing that Yu was gathering his things, Chie offered, "Hey, if your going home, mind walking with me and my friend Yukiko?" Her friend walked toward them, introducing herself to Yu.

"Sure," Yu replied.

"Alright!" Chie said earnestly. "Hey mind if I ask you a bit about what the big city's like?"

"Shoot," Yu replied, shrugging nonchalantly as Chie began to bombard him with questions as they made their way out of the school.

Suddenly Yosuke approached the group, looking rather nervous about something. He quickly handed Chie her _Trial of The Dragon_ copy and began to rub his neck sheepishly. "Hey Chie," He said apprehensively, "I watched the movie… it was really awesome and stuff."

_Geez what's his deal, he looks like someone's about to murder him or something… wait a minute…Come to think of it, he was acting kinda weird this morning…_

"Anyways, gotta go bye!" Yosuke blurted out quickly making his way to the school exit.

"Hold it right there!" Chie yelled, grabbing him by the arm. She carefully opened the DVD case.

Meanwhile Yosuke pleaded desperately, "I'm really sorry, I'll make it up to you when I get my next pay check." Upon seeing the look of fury in Chie's eye he begged pathetically, "Please don't kill me…"

"My Trial of the Dragon!" Chie shouted indignantly, "Oh you idiot!" Upon that final declaration she delivered a swift kick to Yosuke's groin. As he crumpled to the ground, Chie brushed off her shoulders and humphed indignantly. "C'mon guys lets get out of here."

"Man at this rate I'll never be able to have children…"Yosuke groaned.

* * *

By the time they reached the flood plain Chie had managed to find out why Narukami had come to Inaba. "Just cause of your parents jobs huh? Man I thought it was something more serious."

"Sorry to disappoint," Yu said jokingly, a smile playing across his lips.

"Wha-," Chie began, "I didn't mean it like that. I mean…" Deciding quickly to change the subject, "So I bet you must think it's boring out here it the sticks, not much to do compared to in the city, huh?"

"Yeah," Yu agreed. "Its nice though, the people here are friendlier. Not to mention I was wandering around the shopping district when I came in and caught a whiff of some awesome smelling Chinese food."

"Oh you mean Aiya?" Chie asked. "Man their steak bowl is amazing! And their mega beef challenge is insane! They say if you finish it you get it for free but not even I can finish that!"

"Sounds like a challenge! I'm game," Yu said tenaciously.

"Big talk, but you haven't seen the bowl, it's like it leads to another dimension filled with meat! Even I haven't finished it yet and I eat a lot!"

"Yeah, I remember there was this one time we had Aiya cater at the inn-" Yukiko began, before being quickly interrupted by Chie.

"A-anyways!" Chie cut in, as her face flushed with embarrassment. "Speaking of the inn though, Yukiko is the daughter of the family that runs the local Amagi Inn! It pretty much keeps this place going." Quickly noticing how flustered her loose tongued best friend was getting Chie quickly decided to capitalize on the moment, "Hey Yu-kun, do you think Yukiko is cute?"

Yu, taken aback by her forwardness sputtered out, "W-well…"

"Chie!" Yukiko said, even more red with embarrassment than before. "Ignore her," she said pointedly to Yu. "She does this all the time…" Yukiko muttered under her breath.

"I didn't here a denial," Chie sing-songed. "Yukiko is really popular at school, and she's never had a boyfriend. Kinda weird huh?" Chie said, taking the time to admire her handiwork in the form of a flustered Yukiko and Yu. However she couldn't help but feel surprised at Yu's lack of response, most guys made no effort to disguise their attraction to Yukiko, many of them quickly meeting their demise with a well placed kick should they start acting creepy. _Maybe she's not his type… maybe?_ Chie quickly mentally slapped herself. _All_ _the guys want Yukiko,_ Chie thought bitterly.

A series of hushed voices brought Chie back to reality. She noticed some excited housewives whispering excitedly about something. As they came closer they noticed obvious signs of police presence in the area. Suddenly a plainclothes detective ran past the barricade that blocked the public from the scene of the crime, promptly emptying the contents of his stomach in a nearby bush.

"Adachi!" A loud voice barked. "How long are you gonna keep acting like a rookie!" The green faced younger detective quickly apologized to his senior detective that was rapidly approaching the group. The older man seemed to recognize Yu. "Hey what are you all doing out here?"

Chie turned to face Yu, asking," You know this guy?"

"Yeah he's my Uncle, I'm staying with him while I'm here." He turned to face the man. "Sorry Uncle Dojima, we were just passing through and happened to stumble here."

Dojima scowled, "Damn school. I thought we told them to tell the kids not to come over this way." He sighed, then returned his gaze towards Yu. "You all should go straight home, there's nothing to see here. Come on Adachi, we need to do some questioning." With that he left along with the younger detective.

The apparent murder that had gone on was enough to derail Chie's plans to go with Junes with Yukiko and Yu. "Hey Yukiko, mind if we head to Junes some other time?" Yukiko promptly agreed and Chie turned to Yu, "Sorry, but I really think we should let the police do their thing. We'll hang out some other time 'kay?"

Yu smiled and nodded in agreement.

"Well," Chie began, "Starting tomorrow let's do our best neighbor!" Waving goodbye to Yu, she began to walk aside Yukiko to the bus stop that took her to the inn.

"… He seemed nice." Yukiko commented off-handedly.

"Yeah he did," Chie agreed. Suddenly Chie narrowed her eyes, "Wait… what are you getting at?"

"You said it was weird I never had a boyfriend, but-"

"Yukiko!"

* * *

"I'm back!" Chie yelled as she made her way back into her house, slipping off her shoes as she entered. She walked into the living room where her mother was currently preparing dinner. _Maybe it'll be enough so I don't have to sneak out to Aiya's tonight… Then again with all this weird stuff that's going on…_

Her mother cut into her thoughts, "So Chie, how was school today?"

"It was pretty good, I guess…" _Random police incident__ and torture by your so called best-friend aside…_

"Did you hear, that announcer woman was killed! Here in Inaba, my what has this town come to!" Chie's mother said, shocked that something so horrible could happen in their normally quiet town.

"So that's what that was…" Chie muttered.

"Did you say something dear?"

"Uhh no, don't worry about it!" Chie blurted out quickly in an effort to prevent further questioning.

Chie's mother looked unconvinced, but didn't venture further on the matter. "So," She began suddenly. "I heard that there's a handsome new transfer student in town…"

Chie groaned out loud, it was going to be a long night.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hey Guys! Sorry it took a while, this chapter turned out a little longer than I usually write for. I hope the additional length helps make up for the time. Anyway, I'm glad to see people are interested and am thankful for you're favorites alerts, and especially my one review! It means a lot and I appreciate it! Anyways, if you like the story please leave a review with what you like, critiques etc. Well I'm done with my self pimping, enjoy!**

Chie glared daggers at Yosuke, watching him with unequaled anger as he made small talk with Yu. Faintly she picked the words 'my treat' and 'steak.' The mention of steak was enough to momentarily cause her anger to subside, but its lingering traces prompted her to approach Yosuke. "Hey," she called out, "After what you did yesterday I think you should treat Yukiko and me for steak too!" She looked at her best friend for support as was surprised to see that she appeared to be a little crestfallen.

"Umm… no thanks," the raven haired girl said meekly. "I don't want to gain anymore weight. And besides, I need to go help out at the inn today." She gathered her things and turned towards Chie before leaving, "I'll see you later Chie…"

"Aww, okay," Chie replied, disappointed. She turned to Yosuke, narrowing her eyes as she did. "Don't think this means you're off the hook!"

"Heh… right…." Yosuke said rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. Valuing his future capacity to have children, he didn't argue any further with martial artist.

* * *

They had ended up at Junes, much to Chie's chagrin, and she wasted no time in making her displeasure known to Yosuke. "Hey! This isn't steak!" She complained, eying the dish in front of her. _Oh well… meat is meat I guess._

"Well, once you hopped on the free-loader train I had to change my plans," Yosuke quipped, rolling is eyes at the meat aficionado. It looked as if he was about to continue further when his gaze turned to the other end of the food court. "Senpai…" he said under his breath. "Well, you two enjoy," Yosuke said, rising out of his seat. "I have business to attend to." He briskly made his way to a high school girl nearby.

Yu looked at the boy quizzically. "Is that his girlfriend or something?" He asked.

The ridiculousness of the proposition was almost enough for Chie to choke on her food. She swallowed and replied, "Pshh, in his dreams. That's Saki Konishi, a third year at our school. Her family runs a liquor store at the shopping district, but it looks like she's been working part time here. Most likely weaseled into it by Yosuke." Chie rolled her eyes at the thought.

Saki, meanwhile seemed to be more interested in Yu than whatever Yosuke had to say, much to his chagrin. She walked over greeting Yu with a smile. "You're that transfer student right? I'm glad Hana-chan is finally making some friends!" Yosuke blushed in embarrassment at both the nick name and the thinly veiled insult. He was about to protest when Saki continued, "Hana-chan's a nice guy, but he can be a bit nosy at times. You got to tell him right to his face when he's annoying you."

_Like that'd do anything, he still bugs the hell out of me._ _He still owes me another Trial of the Dragon._

Yu came to Yosuke's defense however, saying, "Nah, he's a great guy."

Saki laughed at Yu's comment. "I know, I'm just kidding. Play nice, Hana-chan!" She waved goodbye to Yosuke and the others then proceeded to exit the food court.

"Saki has a little brother. She pretty much treats me the same way," Yosuke sighed.

"Oh I see," Chie said, grinning mischievously. This opportunity was just too good pass up. "You don't want her treating you like that."

"Wha- no it's not like that!" Yosuke protested, cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

Chie went on mercilessly, "The daughter of a local store, the scion of an invading retail chain! Ohoho! The flame of forbidden love!"

"Hey quit it!" Yosuke said, even redder than before.

Suddenly an idea crossed Chie's mind. "Ah don't worry Yosuke, I got just the thing for your lovesick heart! Have you guys heard of the Midnight Channel?" Yosuke and Yu shook their heads. "They say on rainy nights that if you look on a TV screen your soul mate will appear!"

Yosuke pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head. "Man, for a second I thought you were going to say something actually helpful." He looked up at her in disbelief. "How could you get excited about such a childish urban legend!"

"Hey, it's true! I heard a guy the other day saying something about that announcer lady being his soul mate!"

"Meaning you haven't tried it either. Man this is so dumb," Yosuke said dubiously.

"Well if it's just some dumb legend then you won't mind trying to watch it tonight!" Chie challenged.

"No way, why would I waste my time doing something like that?" Yosuke complained.

"What are you? Scared of the 'childish urban legend,'" Chie mocked, doing her best imitation of Yosuke.

"Dude! I do NOT sound like that!" Yosuke shrugged in defeat. "Fine I'll watch your stupid midnight channel…"

Yu had been silent for the whole conversation. "Hey," Chie piped up, "You're getting in on this too right?"

Yu shrugged nonchalantly, "Sure why not?"

"Alright it's settled! Everyone's watching the Midnight Channel tonight!" Chie said with a tinge of excitement.

"I don't get why you're so excited over something so stupid," Yosuke sighed.

"What! It isn't stupid! You haven't even…"

Yu merely sweat dropped as the two got into another heated argument.

* * *

Chie set aside the still cooking instant ramen as she got comfortable in her room. She approached her window as the rain pattered against it. _Rain. Check. Soba. Check. Now all I have to do is wait._ She looked anxiously at her clock. _Still a couple of minutes till midnight… well good thing I came prepared! Time to dig in! _Chie walked back to her desk where her now steaming ramen waited for her, waiting to be devoured. Chie licked her lips in anticipation as she broke apart the chopsticks that she had brought with her, proceeding to peel off the plastic lid, the tantalizing aroma of soba reaching her nostrils.

As she began to eat with fervor Chie let her mind wander. _I wonder if this thing will actually work. If it does really show your soul mate I wonder who mine will be? Maybe it'll be-_

Chie's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the sound of static on the TV. Slowly, a blurry image came into view. It looked like it could've been a high school girl! _Come to think of it… she looks kinda familiar…Wait a second, does that mean my soul mate's a girl! What a load of crap! And to think I was kinda hoping… _Chie sighed in confusion as she set aside her now finished soba and attempted to drift into an uneasy sleep.

* * *

Chie sighed; it had been another long day of one of King Moron's infamous 'sermons.' Remembering last night's events, she walked over toward where Yu and Yosuke were chatting. "Hey…" Chie began slowly. "Did you guys see it?"

"See what?" Yosuke asked, although he looked uncomfortable for some reason.

"Duh, the Midnight Channel you ditz!" Chie rolled her eyes at Yosuke's apparent ignorance of the situation. "How 'bout you Yu-kun? See anything weird?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Yu said doubtfully.

Chie couldn't help but become extremely curious at this answer. "C'mon, tell us! It can't be stranger than what I saw."

Yu looked down but began to speak, "I didn't just see things. First the midnight channel came on and I saw some girl or something. Then I heard a weird voice in my head. Something about 'opening the door.' Anyways, I unthinkingly touched the TV screen and my hand when completely through. Next thing I know I'm being sucked in to this thing! But apparently it was too small for me to fit, and I was able to pull myself out, at the cost of hitting the head on my work table." He rubbed the back of his head tenderly as he finished the story.

"Hey," Yosuke said, "I saw a girl too! How 'bout you Chie?"

"Yeah, I saw one too! She was in a high school uniform and had like shoulder length brown hair…"

"Wow, I wasn't able to get that much out of what I saw, but it sounds like we all saw the same person!"

"But what does that mean?" Chie asked, more confused than before. "Do we all have the same soul mate?"

"Never mind that!" Yosuke said irritably, waving his hands dismissively. "What's all this about voices and getting sucked into a T.V. Sounds pretty crazy if you ask me!"

"Oh yeah!" Chie piped up. "I liked the part when you said the T.V. wasn't big enough, pretty realistic story telling there! No way something like that could've happened though, must've been some crazy dream!"

"The back of my head begs to differ," Yu muttered, rubbing the back of his head again.

"Speaking of TVs, do they have anything at Junes Yosuke? My family's in the market for a new one. Hopefully they get a big one so I can watch my kung fu movies on the big screen! Hwa taa!" Chie cried out, adopting a martial arts stance.

Yosuke stared at Chie, dumbfounded for a moment. "Uh, yeah Junes is beefing up their electronics department this month." His gaze shifted over to Yu. "Who knows maybe they'll have one big enough for you to fit in!" Yosuke said jokingly.

Yu merely rolled his eyes in response, obviously annoyed that his friends didn't believe him.

"Well c'mon," Yosuke said. "Let's head over to Junes!"

"Yeah, alright!" Chie said excitedly. The prospect of seeing all her kung fu movies on a new, huge, high definition TV was just too good to pass up.

Yu sighed in response, but didn't mention any other of last night's events as he moved to get out of his seat.

* * *

"Whoa…" Chie marveled, staring at the gargantuan TV that stood before. It was bigger than any other TV that she had ever scene, and she quickly visualized how awesome _Trial of The Dragon _would look on the large screen. She looked over at Yosuke and gushed, "Man, this is awesome!"

"Yep," Yosuke agreed, "Flat-screens are definitely in now!"

"Yeah, I'll say," Chie agreed. Her eyes wandered over the price tag, and her eyes widened in shock. It would appear that the monstrous TV had an equally monstrous price tag to match. "Ouch, this one's way too expensive." She made an inquisitive glance at Yosuke. "Got anything cheaper, c'mon you gotta hook me up!" Chie pleaded.

"Dude!" Yosuke protested, "I can't just do that! What kind of TV was your family on the market for?"

"A cheap one," Chie answered simply.

Yosuke cleared his throat and motioned her to follow him, entering sales pitch mode. "Well, see here we have the latest in this line of televisions, just released this spring," Yosuke said in a dramatically intoned voice.

Chie examined the TV. _Not as big as the other one, but whatever… let's see how much this one costs…_ Chie quickly moved to examine the price and groaned out loud. "Yosuke! That's way too many zeroes!"

"I guess I should've asked what you meant by 'cheap,'" Yosuke mumbled. "Hey Yu, are you…" Yosuke trailed off seemingly startled by something.

Chie turned around to have a look at what he was staring at. She saw Yu… putting his hand inside the TV they were looking at earlier. She looked at Yosuke in surprise, "What the… that isn't like, some new function of anything right?"

"Hell no…" Yosuke said, his eyes not leaving Yu. They both ran over to him unable to believe their eyes. "Alright man," Yosuke said nervously, "That's a nice magic trick, what's your secret?"

Instead of answering Yu placed both of his hands on the edge of the screen and pushed his head through. Yosuke and Chie both went bug eyed at the sight, unable to comprehend what they were seeing.

"Huh, it seems empty, but spacious," Yu said calmly, as if sticking your own head into a TV was the most natural thing in the world.

"Empty?! Spacious?! What the hell man!" Yosuke yelled.

"Shhh, pipe down Yosuke, someone might come over here!" Chie hissed.

"Ohh man!" Yosuke said, unable to keep his composure. "My bladder can't handle this!"

"Are you serious? Gross!" Chie moaned.

They heard Yu snicker inside the TV.

"Dude what's your problem!" Yosuke said angrily. He unthinkingly pushed Yu, causing him to lose his balance and fall further into the TV.

"Oh shi-" Yosuke panicked and made a vain attempt to pull Yu back, only managing to get sucked in along with him.

Chie quickly moved to grab onto Yosuke, but found herself pulled into the abyss that lurked within. She was momentarily blinded then felt a falling sensation. She would have hit the ground, but she found her fall softened by… something.

"Uhh… Chie," Yu began.

Chie noticed that his voice sounded like it was coming from… beneath her? She looked down to find Yu, who was doing his best to maintain a blank expression. Chie practically leapt off him in shock. "Uhh… sorry about that heh…" Chie said sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck. She heard a loud groan next to her, and she noticed the supine form of Yosuke nearby. "Yosuke! This is all your fault!"

"What! My fault? I'm not the one that goes-"

"Guys calm down, we can play the blame game later," Yu cut in calmly.

"Yeah… you're right," Yosuke mumbled.

Yu noticing the state of his friends asked, "You guys alright?"

"Yeah I think so…" Chie replied, marveling at how well Yu managed to keep his composure. His presence had a strange soothing effect that wasn't entirely unpleasant.

Yu nodded in response. "Let's try to find a way out of here," Yu stated, wasting no time in getting straight to the point.

"Right…" Chie said, trying to stay calm despite the strange situation. She examined their surrounding. A thick fog enshrouded the area, making it hard to see anything that wasn't extremely close. She was able to make out that the area looked sort of like a studio, with a variety of lighting hanging above them. The floor had strange patterns on it shaped like those chalk body tracings like in one of those cheesy mystery shows. Looking further, she noticed that there was several other of these scattered about the floor nearby. _Man… this place just gets creepier and creepier… _

"C'mon," Yu said, gesturing them to follow him. "Let's go over here, maybe we'll find an exit."

"How do we know if we're going the right way?" Chie ask, a worried expression on her face.

"Worst case scenario, we just come back here and try something else," Yu said smoothly. It wasn't much of a plan, but nobody else had any better ideas. With no further objections, Yu began to lead Yosuke and Chie on a path he had discovered. As they wandered through the strange world, Chie couldn't help but feel that the scenery was eerily familiar for some reason, although she had never seen anything like the scenery before her, which consisted a haphazard arrangement of buildings and a dark sky filled with red streaks. The very aura of the place was perturbing to say the least, and the longer they were there the more uncomfortable Chie felt.

Finally they came upon a room; the walls plastered with desecrated posters and splattered with strange, yellow ooze. In the center of the room was a prominently placed chair with a noose suspended above it.

"Whoa, what's the deal with this place," Yosuke said. Taking note of the noose arrangement he took on a panicked stance. "Oh man, that kind of arrangement is never good…" He seemed to break out in cold sweat and started bouncing on his toes. "Argh! I can't hold it anymore!" He hurriedly walked over to corner and unzipped his pants, attempting to relieve his straining bladder.

"Eeeww!" Chie shrieked in disgust. "Are you really gonna do that right now!"

"Just turn around or something! I can't do it with you both watching!" Yosuke stood for several seconds, but relief never came. "Dammit…" He sighed. "I can't do it. Man if my bladder explodes it's you guy's fault!"

Yu seemed to be completely ignoring Yosuke's antics, examining the room. He had taken an interest in one of the posters, looking over it carefully. "I think I've seen this poster before…" He noted to no one in particular.

Meanwhile Chie had grown more and more freaked out by strange room. In addition, a wave of nausea and dizziness had swept through her and her head throbbed with a dull headache. She put her hand to her forehead in an attempt to relieve some of the pain and turned to Yu. "Umm, Yu do you mind if head back? This place is really creeping me out and I'm starting to feel kinda sick."

Yu nodded, and after nearly getting lost several times, they finally made it back to where they started.

"How the heck are we going to get out of here?" Yosuke groaned.

Suddenly a silhouette appeared, and it appeared to be getting closer by the second.

"Whoa!" Yosuke yelled, pointing at the approaching figure. "What the heck is that!"

Chie got into a martial arts stance, attempting to suppress her fear. The figure finally got close enough to make out clearly, revealing a strange blue creature dressed in a red suit.

"Who are you guys?" The creature asked, appearing not to be threatening despite the nature of the rest of the world.

The group nearly jumped in surprise at the creatures voice.

"It can talk?" Chie shrieked, getting more unnerved with each passing moment.

"Hey, what are you guys all doing in here?" The creature demanded. "Someone's been throwing people in here and it's messing up everything here!"

"Hey, stop yelling at us you stupid bear thing!" Yosuke yelled back, causing the creature to shrink away in fear.

"Yosuke, calm down… this thing might be our only way out." The bear seemingly noticing Yu was the most level-headed of the group hid behind Yu so as to avoid being the target of further angry outbursts.

Yu turned to face the creature, politely asking, "Excuse me, but do you know how to get out of this place? We kind of accidentally stumbled in here and are kind of lost?"

"Stumbled?" The bear-like creature said quizzically. "Were you guys pushed in too?"

"No, as I said before, it was an accident."

The bear eyed them suspiciously for a moment, then suddenly appeared to panic. "You guys gotta get out of here, it's dangerous!"

Yosuke, beginning to lose his patience hissed, "That's what we've been trying to do this whole time!"

The bear nodded quickly before tapping his foot on the ground several times. Out of nowhere a stack of old looking televisions appeared before them.

"Hurry!" The creature said urgently. "The shadows are coming!" He pushed them all to the TVs hurriedly.

"Whoa, what're you doing!" Yosuke said, panicking. Before they could argue further they were all unceremoniously squished through the small TV. When the group came to their senses they found themselves back in the Junes electronics department.

"Whoa…" Chie said in disbelief. "We're back…"

Suddenly, an announcement came on over the store's PA system, announcing a daily sale. Hearing this, Yosuke seemed to be startled. "Man, it's been that long!" He sighed. "Well I'm just glad we all made it out…" He put his hand to his forehead then turned to face Yu and Chie. "Well, I don't know about you guys but I'm beat. It's late and we should probably all be heading back home." Chie and Yu nodded in agreement and then exchanged their farewells.

As Chie exited the store she took notice of just how late it was. The sun had already set, and she hadn't contacted her parents in hours. Chie groaned mentally. _How the heck am I supposed to explain this to my parents?_

* * *

Chie slowly slide the front door to her house, hoping to create as little noise as possible. With any luck, her dad would still be out late working and her mother had gone to chat with other parents in the shopping district. The latter possibility, however, proved to be far too hopeful, as she was greeted with her mothers stern face as she wandered into the living room.

"Chie," she scolded. "Where on earth have you been all this time! I that you might be with Yuki-chan but when I called Amagi-san she told me that the inn was very busy and that they needed her to help at the inn!"

Chie quickly searched her mind for some kind of excuse. "W-well… uhh…" Her mother eyed impatiently, still waiting for an explanation. "You see…" Suddenly an idea popped into her head. Doing her best to gain her composure she cleared her throat. "Well, Yosuke and I figured we show the transfer student around. We… uhh… got kinda sidetracked and before we knew it, it was really late." _There…that sounded pretty convincing._

Her mother seemed partially satisfied by the story. "Alright," She said reluctantly. "But next time you decide to run around with boys, call me when you think you're going to be late."

"Mom! It's not like that!" Chie protested.

"Of course not dear." Chie's mother responded, not seeming to buy into her objections to the contrary.

Chie sighed, too tired to argue the point further. She sluggishly walked to her room quickly rolling out her futon and lying down. _Man, what happened today? Was it all some crazy dream? No, it seemed to real, and with Yu and Yosuke there too…_Chie groaned out loud attempting to push the thoughts aside as she drifted into an uneasy slumber.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait! I went on vacation right after I posted the last chapter and downloaded P3P onto my Vita, causing my productivity to decrease quite a bit. Anyways, I apologize for the wait; hopefully I'll have the next chapter up by the end of the week! I'd like to shout out to RagingRaven for reviewing my last chapters, I really appreciate the support! Please feel free to leave any form of criticism/comments, if there's anything you think I could work on/improve I'd greatly appreciate your input. Hope you guys enjoy this one! – M/I **

Chie shuffled nervously in her seat. Normally she would have met Yukiko at the bus stop at the central shopping district and walked with her to school. Today however, she didn't appear at the customary time. After several calls and texts without a response, Chie couldn't help but worry. Yukiko was _never_ late, rarely didn't show up for school, and always got back to her when she wasn't busy. With all this unusual behavior coupled with the strange recent events, both in the local murder and the previous days… excursion, Chie was hard pressed not to freak out.

The loud voice of Yosuke accompanied by Yu's lower, softer one caused her eyes to lift to the entrance of the classroom. They made their way over to her desk greeting her.

"Hey Chie, what's up!" Yosuke said in his usual enthusiastic tone. Noticing her lack of response he probed her, "Something wrong?"

"Nah it's nothing…" Chie answered quickly. Checking her messages she saw a flashing icon on the display of her cell phone indicating a new message had been received. _Lots of customers this week, I'll probably be late to school today. I'm sorry I couldn't get back to you sooner. I'll probably be there before lunch. I'll see you later!_ Chie's concerns were immediately alleviated for the moment. Tapping out a quick response before Mr. Morooka showed up, she sighed in relief.

"Everything all right neighbor?" Yu asked, his face tinged with concern.

"Yeah," Chie nodded, sighing in relief. She did her best to make a convincing smile and replied, "Everything's fine now, there's nothing to worry about."

Yu nodded then gestured indicating that they should probably start paying attention to King Moron, who had just entered, so as to avoid any additional lecturing.

"Alright you brats get off yer asses! There's an assembly goin' on and I don't like having my time wasted!" Everyone began to move out of their seats, and as they began to make their way to the assembly the mental gears in Chie's mind started turning. _An assembly? At this time of year?_ She didn't have any time to further ponder the matter as she was shooed out of the class by a raving Mr. Morooka.

* * *

By the time all the school's students had been gathered and settled down, nearly an hour had elapsed. Chie checked her phone nervously. _Surely she's gotten off the hook by now…_ She dismissed these thoughts as the principal approached the podium after Mr. Morooka quieted down the students.

The elderly man cleared his throat then began to speak, "Attention students. We have assembled you all here today to bring some terrible news. One of our students has passed away…" Sounds of collective shock were heard throughout the student body, and students quickly began to speculate on the latest victim. "One of our third year students Saki Konishi I'm afraid." The principal went on and on, though at this point Chie had stopped listening. It seemed almost unreal, having just seen Saki yesterday. Suddenly filled with worry for Yosuke, she shifted her gaze to him, finding him with a downcast expression.

"Why did this happen," He breathed softly, unable to comprehend the news he had just heard.

"Yosuke…" Chie began, although she couldn't find the appropriate words to comfort him. Despite his annoying and immature tendencies, she was genuinely concerned about him. _As much of a pain he is he's still my friend._

Before she could say anything further however, he stormed off, leaving Chie and Yu at the assembly. The principal went on about expecting student cooperation in the upcoming investigation and so forth, finally concluding his speech with the announcement that the students could return home. With police coming to interview the school staff, students quickly cleared the halls. Yu and Chie gathered their things from class and made their way downstairs, finding Yosuke near the entrance.

"Yu…" He began softly, obviously still unable to completely reconcile the death of his senpai. He shifted his gaze upwards, his gaze firming with resolve, "I want to go back into the TV world…"

"What!" Chie shouted, barely making an effort to conceal her surprise. "Yosuke are you crazy! It's dangerous there and besides what good would going there do?" Yosuke's sudden desire was an absolute mystery to Chie. _Once was enough for me._

"I've been thinking…" Yosuke went on. "Remember those posters in that weird room we found?" Yu nodded, having been the one to have been pointed them out in the first place. "They were posters of Mayumi Yamano…"

Chie's eyes widened, "You mean that announcer lady? Wait... you think her and Saki's murders are connected!"

"I don't know," Yosuke admitted, looking down again. "But I can't ignore it now… if I can find something… anything…" He took a deep breath. "I _need_ to know why she had to die like this." He returned his gaze to Yu. "I'm going to need your help to get in."

Yu was silent for a moment, probably weighing in on what decision to make. "I'll go with you. You shouldn't go in there by yourself."

"Thanks man," Yosuke said appreciatively. "I'll meet you at Junes then." He hurried of in the direction of the mega market.

"Is this really a good idea?" Chie questioned.

"Either way, we should head to Junes to make sure he doesn't due anything drastic," Yu replied. Chie nodded in agreement, walking off with Yu at a fast clip to catch up with their distraught friend.

* * *

They found Yosuke, as expected, in the electronics department. In his hands he held a strange combination of items: a large golf club, and a large bundle of rope.

Yosuke smiled weakly at Yu. "Thanks for coming dude…"

"Yosuke, do you really think this is a good idea? What if you can't get out like last time?" Chie asked, completely opposed to the idea of them going into that crazy place.

Yosuke's expression lightened even further, "That's where you come in!"

"Me!" Chie exclaimed, completely aghast. "Wait hold up a sec-"

Yosuke interrupted her protest, "All you need to do is hang onto this…" He handed her the rope. "I'll tie it to myself before we go in and then we should be able to climb back out once we've looked around a bit."

"Don't be an idiot," Chie scoffed. "First off how do you even know the rope will be long enough? And don't even get me started on the fact that, on the off chance this does work, that a freaking rope will be sticking out of a TV!"

Yosuke waved his hand dismissively, "No one comes back here anyway, and if someone does just stand in front of it or something." He turned to Yu handing him the golf club. "Take this. I thought we shouldn't go in there empty handed," He explained, tying the rope around his waist as he did. "All right," Yosuke began, finishing the knot. "Let's go."

Yu nodded touching the screen, causing the screen to ripple like water.

As Yosuke began to climb in Chie made a final desperate protest. "You guys are crazy! This is-" Her words where lost on them however, as the next thing she knew, they had disappeared into the TV. She pulled on the rope apprehensively. Dread ran through her once she had discovered that the rope had been cut off from the point it had entered, prompting Chie to fall to her knees in despair.

"I knew this wouldn't work," She muttered. She hated being in situations like this, where she was powerless to do anything. All it seemed she could do now was wait.

* * *

Several hours had passed, but for Chie, it might as well have been an eternity. Worry had consumed her minutes after the boys venture into the TV world, and her unease grew with each passing moment. _Those idiots! They knew that place was bad news. _Her expression grew even more distraught. _For all I know they could be dead right now…_ She shook her head to dismiss such thoughts, instead opting to give both boys the ass-kicking of their lives once they finally returned. '_If they return' _She thought darkly_._ Chie's anger sparked again at Yu and Yosuke's stupidity. However, she knew that the anger was merely a façade to disguise her true feelings of worry and concern.

She couldn't maintain the charade anymore, however, and was on the verge of breaking down. Suddenly, as if on cue, the TV rippled once again, indicating some sort of presence and an exhausted looking Yosuke emerged, followed promptly by Yu. "You're back!" Chie cried, her voice nearly breaking due to her intense relief. This however, quickly reasserted itself as anger toward them. "You j-jerks! I was so worried… I thought…"

"Chie…" Yu began, sounding apologetic.

Chie, however, was having none of it. "You're both idiots!" She screamed, storming out of the shop.

Chie promptly sealed herself in her room after running home, only giving her parents vague reasons as to why she was so upset. She had attempted to call Yukiko to vent, however her various calls and messages went unanswered. Sighing in frustration, she wandered to her bed, exhausted from the day's events, eventually falling into a fitful sleep.

* * *

Chie strode into the classroom the next day, finding Yu and Yosuke waiting near her desk.

"Hey Chie," Yosuke began, lowering his gaze. "Um, we're really sorry about yesterday, and-"

Chie cut him off mid apology, "Yeah, yeah save it," waving him off dismissively. Now there were far more pressing matters at hand.

"Have either of you heard from Yukiko?"

Both of them shook their heads, prompting Chie's brow to furrow with worry.

This did not go unnoticed by Yu. "Something wrong?" He asked.

Chie sighed in frustration, "I don't know… I haven't heard from her at all since yesterday, and this is the second day she missed school." At this, she noticed Yosuke and Yu giving each other uneasy glances, only furthering her worry. "Hey what's up with you two? Do you know something?"

Yosuke visibly blanched at her questioning. Clearing his throat, he spoke solemnly, "The night before Saki-senpai was killed, I watched the midnight channel again. That girl we all saw was definitely her." He tilted his head forward and closed his eyes for a moment before going on. "I remember a couple of days ago, people were talking about the midnight channel too, something about the announcer being some kid's soul mate."

Chie's eyes widened, "Are you saying that people that appear on the midnight channel… die?"

"We don't know for sure, " Yosuke replied. "But it can't be a coincidence. That's not all though… last night, I though I saw Yukiko-san…"

Chie's eyes widened in shock. _This is crazy… There's no way that Yukiko…_ Panic coursing through her, she hurriedly brought out her phone, quickly calling Yukiko's cell phone. With each unanswered ring a new wave of dread washed over her. "She's not picking up," Chie cried out, fear slipping into her voice.

Yu, however, remained calm as ever. "Did you try calling the inn?" He asked.

Chie quickly mentally slapped herself. _Of course! Why didn't I think of that earlier? _Quickly scrolling through her contacts, she found the number for the Amagi inn and dialed. _Please pick up… _

Suddenly, she heard a familiar voice on the other line.

_"Hello?"_

"Yukiko?" Chie asked, somewhat breathlessly.

_"Chie?" _The other voice replied, sounding surprised. _"Sorry, I had to help out at the inn today. I meant to tell you earlier, but the inn's been really busy." _

Chie sighed in relief.

_"Is something wrong?"_

Snapping out of it Chie quickly responded, "N-no… I was just wondering where you were, sorry to bother you."

Yukiko giggled on the other line. _"It's okay Chie. I'll see you later okay?" _

"Yeah, alright see ya!" Chie answered, doing her best to mimic her usual enthusiasm before hanging up. Letting out another sigh of relief as she closed her phone, she suddenly remembered that this wasn't a wholly unusual occurrence. "Now that I think about it, this happens at least once or twice a year," She thought out loud. She quickly turned to Yosuke, her voice brimming with anger. "Geez, what's you're problem Yosuke, you got me worried over nothing!"

"Wha- hey I was worried about her you know!" Yosuke shot back.

As Yosuke was beginning to make a retort, a particularly irate looking Mr. Morooka entered the classroom. "Hey city boy, shut yer' trap unless you wanna end up on my even _shitier_ shit list! If I so much as…"

As King Moron endlessly lectured Yosuke, Chie sat back and grinned smugly.

* * *

The rest of the day was rather uneventful aside from Yosuke's torture at the hands of King Moron. As the hours drifted closer to midnight, Chie felt a growing sense of unease. She got up from her bead, walking towards the window in her room. She slid the curtain aside, revealing the pattering rain against the glass. Remembering Yosuke's words she sat down anxiously in front of her TV. _It couldn't hurt just to watch…_ She eyed the clock in her room, the silence in the room making the ticking sound seem louder than usual. Finally the clock struck midnight.

Merely moments later, her TV erupted into static, before clearing to reveal a large castle. The camera panned throughout scenery and suddenly Yukiko appeared, wearing a strange outfit. Chie watched completely agape at her friends supposed antics. While the girl on the screen certainly looked like Yukiko, it certainly didn't sound like her. Never in her life could she have imagined her friend saying anything about "bagging hot studs." The program ended abruptly as Yukiko ran out of view, leaving Chie speechless.

She was knocked out of her state of shock by her phone ringing. Seeing the caller as Yosuke she quickly answered.

"Yosuke, what the heck is going on!"

"I don't know, but it's possible that Yukiko-san has been kidnapped…"

Chie was quickly becoming panicked, "What! But…"

"Listen Chie," Yosuke cut in. "You need to calm down. We're not sure of anything yet. Try calling her-"

"What exactly happened yesterday? If-"

"Yu and I will explain everything tomorrow. Right now, focus on trying to get a hold of Yukiko."

Before Chie could demand further explanation, the line went dead. Groaning in frustration, she opted to follow Yosuke's instructions. Quickly dialing Yukiko's number, Chie waited, hoping her friend would answer. _Yukiko… please pick up…_

Chie nearly jumped in surprise when someone on the other line picked up.

"Yukiko?" Chie said hopefully.

"_Is that you Chie-chan_," An older, distinctly _not_ Yukiko voice answered.

Chie's heart sank, this didn't bode well. "Amagi-san… Sorry to call so late… I was just trying to get a hold of Yukiko… I uhh…" Chie fumbled for an excuse as to why she was calling so late; Yukiko's parents were incredibly strict. "I was, uh, just trying to remind her that… she's… missing a lot of homework!" Chie hoped she sounded more convincing than she felt.

"_Never mind that_," Yukiko's mother replied, obviously worried. "_Have you heard anything from Yukiko? She's been missing for hours_!"

Chie's heart nearly stopped. "Missing!?"

"_I'm afraid so… I was wondering if you had seen her recently…_"

"Sorry Amagi-san, I haven't heard from her since yesterday…"

"_Well…if you here anything please call the inn…_" Yukiko's mother replied in a pleading tone.

Hanging up, Chie threw her phone onto her nightstand and plopped into her bed. There was no way she was going to get any sleep tonight.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Alright, things are finally starting to pick up a bit! It has come to my attention that I have already made a slight omission from the cannon story line (specifically, when the gang communicates with Teddie in the electronics department.) Sorry about that, I might go back and edit it in later, but for the sake of simplicity, I'm keeping it as is for now. Anyways back to the here and now: fight scenes are always a little tough, so let me know if you guys have any suggestions! Thanks for reading, and if you like it, please review!**

The wait for an explanation was a long an arduous one. The teacher's lectures seemed infinitely longer and more unbearable than usual, not that it really mattered, since Chie was hardly in a state of mind to pay attention anyway. When the school day finally did end, the kung fu enthusiast approached Yosuke's desk, looking at him expectantly. Yu had already joined there, and they both shared a brief glance before nodding and turning to face her.

Yu spoke first, telling her that their entrance into the TV world had been largely similar to their first unpleasant experience. They had apparently again encountered the strange creature they had met on their first venture, who had confirmed their suspicions that the murders and the TV world had been connected in some way. The creature, who apparently referred to itself as 'Teddie', had revealed that someone had been forcibly putting people inside the TV. After a bit of an argument, 'Teddie' had agreed to help them navigate through the TV world after they had promised to stop the person responsible. After some searching they had encountered an area that was virtually a twisted carbon copy of the shopping district.

"That's," Yosuke intoned, "when things got crazy… We found the liquor store that senpai's family owned, but apparently we weren't alone. Teddie freaked out and said shadows were about to attack us. Sure enough, these monsters came out, and they didn't look too friendly. I though we were done for when partner here," Yosuke clapped Yu on the back for emphasis, "summoned this crazy badass swordsman guy, and zapped the crap out of those monsters!"

Yu, deciding to cut in before Yosuke got too carried away, continued the story. "We decided to investigate the store afterwards. When we got inside we heard a voice that sounded like Saki-senpai's." Yu's gaze briefly shifted to Yosuke, who at the moment appeared to be inspecting something very interesting on his shoes. "Eventually we encountered a shadow that looked like Yosuke… It was an embodiment of all the things about himself that he didn't-"

Yosuke suddenly coughed very loudly. "Um, that's enough of my sorry escapades…" He said dryly. "Long story short, Yu kicked its ass, and the shadow became my persona."

"Persona?" Chie asked, suddenly confused.

"The thing that I summoned earlier," Yu explained. "It's some sort of manifestation of your inner self as far as I can understand."

The mental gears churned in Chie's mind as she attempted to soak in all of this in. Giving up for the moment she said, "If I hadn't been in there myself I never would have believed a story like that. And I'm not sure I completely understand everything you guys just threw at me." Chie swallowed and then looked at both of them firmly. "But what I do understand is that Yukiko is in trouble, and we're going to save her."

Yosuke flinched for a moment. "You mean you're coming with us? No way it's too dangerous!"

Although Yosuke may have been speaking out of friendly concern his reaction only served to anger Chie. "There's no way you two are going in there without me! And besides I can handle myself. Or do I need to give you a personal demonstration?"

Yosuke visibly paled, all too familiar with being on the receiving end of Chie's kicks. Relenting he sighed, "Fine, just stay behind us, okay? We'll meet up at Junes in an hour or so. I'll try to get some supplies so we're a little better prepared."

Chie nodded, grudgingly accepting Yosuke's terms.

* * *

Over an hour later, Chie waited patiently at the Junes food court. Although Yosuke had only given them a soft deadline, she hadn't expected them to take this long. She rapped her fingers on the table impatiently. _Where the heck are those two?_ She remembered something about Yosuke getting some stuff before they dived into the thick of it; however, it still bothered her. Pulling out her phone, she opted to call Yosuke.

After failing to get a response, she snapped her phone shut in frustration. _What gives!_ Before she could dive further into a mental rant, she overheard the loud gossiping of some nearby housewives.

"Did you see those boys getting taken away?" One of them said. "One of them was the son of the Junes department manager so I can't say I'm surprised…"

Chie's head snapped toward the housewives as they continued on about how they were spotted with weapons. Groaning inwardly, she hurried toward the police station.

* * *

When she finally rushed into the station, she found Yu and Yosuke, both having expressions similar to kids who had just been lectured by a stern parent.

"There you two are!"

Yosuke rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "Sorry 'bout that… there was a bit of a… misunderstanding…"

"I'll say," Yu said dryly. "Next time, I think we should avoid waving weapons in a public place while an ongoing murder investigation is going on."

"Shut up!" Yosuke said lamely, obviously embarrassed. Shaking his head he looked at Chie. "Anyway, we learned something while we were here." He lowered his voice. "The police know Yukiko-san is missing," His voice dropped to a whisper. "In fact they even think that Yukiko might be 'laying low' or something.' Apparently that announcer lady bitched out her mom… made her pass out from stress or something. They think that's motive!"

"What!" Chie said, obviously enraged. "They think Yukiko did it!"

"Keep your voice down! We don't need to get hauled in again!" Chie merely folded her arms in response, still angry that the police had cobbled together such a stupid theory. "We're empty handed now," Yosuke continued. "Man," He groaned, frustrated at their current situation. "It'll probably even be more dangerous now…"

"We need weapons?" Chie asked, a little quieter this time. "I know just the place!"

* * *

They ended up in a mysterious shop in the shopping district. The inside was dark, with most of the stores lighting coming from a fire in the back of the store, no doubt used to craft the ornate pieces displayed before them. A grizzled looking man with a strange scar greeted them, his body shining with sweat after a long days work.

"Whoa," Yosuke managed. "How'd you here about this place Chie." His tone suddenly became teasing, "Oh I get it, watched one too many kung fu movies, eh!"

"No!" Chie protested a bit too quickly. "I heard some guys talking about this place," She gestured to the various assortments of wares before them. "This place sells weapons and armor… so yeah." _Though I gotta admit, that one sword looks just like the one from that one-_ Chie shook her head, now was not the time for such thoughts. Quickly selecting some armored boots and some light chain mail, she quickly made her purchase. "Well," She proclaimed, "I got what I need" She looked over towards the boys, who had obviously made no headway.

"Wait a sec," Yosuke piped up. "If we get spotted with all this stuff we'll probably just be picked up again. And we can't exactly just bring in huge bags of equipment either."

Chie was suddenly hit with an idea. "I know! Why don't we just wear our uniforms over everything? I doubt people would notice."

"That," Yosuke began, sounding a little surprised, "Might work actually… Well I guess we'll see…" Yu and Yosuke then proceeded to choose their armaments, the former choosing a traditional katana, and the latter choosing a pair of kunai. "Well I guess we're as ready as we'll ever be," Yosuke sighed, and with that, the trio went off to Junes once again.

* * *

Yu and Yosuke, having grown used to entering the TV world, managed to land on their feet. Chie on the other hand, was less fortunate, gingerly rubbing her throbbing backside and muttering a quiet curse.

Suddenly the bear-like creature greeted them cheerfully. "Sensei you're back! Oh, and you brought Yosuke too…"

"Hey what's that supposed to-"

"Oooh," Teddie crooned. "Who do we have here? Oh, isn't this the girl that came with you guys the first time. What's your name miss?"

_Great, not even five minutes and this thing is already getting on my nerves,_ thought Chie. She obliged the bear's request however and answered, "I'm Chie…"

"Chie-chan?" Teddie asked, testing the name on his tongue. He bowed dramatically. "It's beary nice to meet you!"

"Err… thanks," Chie said awkwardly, still not quite accustomed to Teddie's presence. "Hey we're looking for a girl named Yukiko, do you know where she is?"

"Yukiko? Who's that?" Teddie asked, obviously puzzled.

"Listen Teddie," Yu began, "We think someone may have been thrown inside the TV. Can you sense anyone?"

"Just a minute!" Teddie said cheerfully. He then began to pace around the area, sniffing vigorously as he did so.

"Uhh… is this normal?" Chie asked.

Before she could express any further doubts however, Teddie loudly exclaimed, "Sensei, my bear senses are going off the charts! Follow me!" Teddie suddenly began walking to a random direction through the dense fog clouding the area. Yu and Yosuke followed easily, however Chie had to strain to see where exactly they were going. She noticed they were both wearing glasses, Yu's grey and Yosuke's bright orange, although her mind was far too preoccupied with worry over Yukiko to draw any sort of meaningful connection.

After wandering for several minutes they entered a place that felt... different from the others. Teddie suddenly came to a halt. "Here we are!" He exclaimed at last.

Chie looked up, and then gaped at what she saw. Before them stood an immense castle, like something straight out of a fairy tale, although with a far more sinister air. Although the castle was beautiful in a way, it exuded a sense of foreboding that was a bit unnerving.

"Whoa," Chie managed. "Hey, isn't this where that weird midnight channel show with Yukiko was filmed?"

"Now that you mention it, this looks like the place," Yu agreed. "So Teddie, is she in there?"

Teddie sniffed deeply, then nodded vigorously, "Yep, someone's definitely in there!"

"Then there's no time to waste, "Chie said resolutely, and without another word she sprinted towards the castle entrance.

"Chie wait!" Yosuke cried out, yet his protest went unheeded, as Chie continued towards the castle.

She ran past the entrance and kept running, ignoring the swaths of monsters lingering in the halls. As she was running the thought occurred to her that she had no idea where she was going, however she quickly shoved the thought aside, hoping the others would catch up to her eventually. For now, getting to Yukiko was her first priority. She found a flight of stairs and kept running eventually arriving at a huge door. She paused for a moment, when she was startled by a voice that rung through the castle halls.

**Has my prince finally come? Will someone finally save me? **

Chie's eyes widened. "Yukiko?" Her previous hesitation was quickly discarded as she pushed through the door, revealing a large, mostly empty room. The red carpet and marble floors of the rest of the castle continued into the room, with the walls stretching endlessly up. Suddenly, her surroundings vanished and only Yukiko appeared, her features black and white save for her signature red sweater and hair band.

**Yukiko… snow… I've always hated that name. Snow is cold, transient, worthless, and soon enough it fades away completely. **

Chie could scarcely believe what she was hearing, but she could only stand in stunned silence.

**Chie… she protects my worthless life. Without her, I don't know where I'd be… She has no trouble being friends with other boys… Still, she said red looked good on me…**

"Yukiko…" Chie breathed softly.

Suddenly the castle scenery returned, and the worried voices of Yu and Yosuke reached her ears.

"Chie!" Yu shouted.

**Chie is strong, unlike me. Chie is so kind… **

"Chie is so kind…" An otherworldly voice repeated mockingly. "What a load of crap!" Suddenly, a shadow formed out of a dark mist, revealing an exact copy of Chie.

"What the!" Chie exclaimed, unable to conceal her surprise. "Who the heck are you!"

The other Chie stared at her menacingly, golden eyes shining brightly. "Me? Why, I'm you of course! Yukiko is so pretty, so smart, so _feminine._ All the guys pay attention to her, and _none_ of them are any different! But did you hear that earlier, about how Yukiko was jealous of me?" The shadow cackled evilly. "Man, did I get a charge outta that!"

"T-that's not true," Chie stuttered, horrified at what she was hearing.

"And she was going on about how I protect her, but really, I'm just keeping her in line, so she always depends on me! People try to take her away, but Yukiko knows the score, I'd never let that happen. " Noticing Chie's trembling, the shadow taunted, "What's the matter? Can't stand your true feelings?"

"Cut the crap!" Chie shouted, sounding braver than she actually felt. "Who are you really?"

"Don't you get it?" The shadow mocked. "I've told you already: I'm you!"

"No… no!" Chie screamed. "You're...You're…"

"Chie don't," Yu cried.

"You're not me!"

The shadow smiled, the dark aura surrounding it growing in power. "Not any more I'm not!" The Shadow's smile widened into a grin then broke out into maniacal laughter, growing into a giant monster. Finally the transformation was complete, revealing a yellow hooded figure brandishing a large whip.

"I am a shadow, the true self! I will crush anything that gets in my way!" The monster turned toward Chie. "Starting with you!" Laughing maniacally, the shadow raised the whip and then brought it down violently.

"Izanagi!" Yu shouted from behind her. A black clad masked swordsman appeared in front of her, the whip wrapping harmlessly around its naginata. "Zio!" Yu commanded, causing Izanagi to raise it's unoccupied hand, releasing a streaking current of lighting at the shadow. Hitting its mark the shadow cried out in pain.

"Way to go sensei!" Shouted Teddie exuberantly.

The shadow only laughed in response to the assault. "Is that all?" It taunted. Suddenly, it pulled violently at its whip, momentarily throwing Izanagi off balance. Taking advantage of this, the shadow continued its attack, releasing a torrent of ice towards Izanagi. Although the persona recovered in time to dodge the worst of the blast, a portion of the ice spikes hit home, causing Yu to grunt in pain.

"Hang in there partner!" Yosuke shouted. He called forth a blue card then crushed it quickly. "Jiraiya!" He shouted, causing a white and orange clad figure armed with shuriken to appear. It quickly moved to assist Izanagi, rushing in for a quick strike at the shadow. It hit dead on, but the shadow merely stumbled at the blow. With Jiraiya temporarily open to attack, the shadow capitalized on the moment, launching a salvo of ice at the persona.

"Damn…" Yosuke said wincing.

Izanagi charged at the shadow before it could do any further harm, yet the shadow anticipated this, casting it's whip out, wrapping it around Izanagi tightly. The persona struggled against its bonds, but to no avail. The shadow tightened the whip, further constricting Izanagi. Yu doubled over in pain at the attack. "Y-yosuke," He said breathlessly. "A little help here."

"On it," Yosuke said, firming his stance. Concentrating, he shouted out, "Garu!"

Jiraiya suddenly sent a violent blast of wind, causing the shadow to scream loudly.

"You found its weakness Yosuke!" Teddie informed, 'Hit it again!"

Yosuke obliged, sending another windblast, causing the shadow to stagger back. Izanagi ripped itself free, leveling its naginata, poised to strike.

"Finish it off partner!" Yosuke shouted.

Yu nodded resolutely. Izanagi charged forward, its naginata piercing the shadows torso with a sickening sound. The shadow screamed once more as Izanagi withdrew its blade, falling to a heap and dissolving into a shadowy mass, reforming into its previous form, kneeling over in pain.

Chie approached warily, watching the shadow carefully. "What's the matter? Got nothing more to stay?"

"Stop it Chie." Yosuke said. "If you keep on denying it, it'll just attack us again." His toned softened a bit. "It's alright; everyone has a side like this."

"B-but…." Chie stammered, unable to believe that the thing standing in front of her was supposed to be a part of her.

"Chie," Yu said firmly, "its okay." He looked her directly in the eyes, "You're more than that thing." Yosuke nodded in agreement.

Yu's words stirred a resolve within Chie, and she turned to face herself. She looked down, faltering a bit. "It's true…" She began. "All those things… I didn't want to admit it, but deep down I've always felt this way sometimes." She shifted her gaze, staring her shadow directly into its golden eyes. "I'm you, and you're me," Chie said firmly, and with that admission, she felt like a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Her shadow nodded, smiling, the air around it shimmering bright blue. It floated upward, then in a blinding flash of life, transformed into a yellow clad samurai. _Tomoe,_ Chie thought mentally, the name springing forth from the depths of her mind. The figure disappeared, leaving a shining card floating in front of her.

"My persona…" Chie breathed, the card returning into the sea of her soul. Suddenly, Chie noticed just how tired she felt. She collapsed, fatigue overwhelming her.

"C'mon, let's get you outta here," Yosuke said. Yu approached her offering a helping hand. Chie took it gratefully, standing uneasily.

"I'm fine…" Chie said breathlessly, trying to shrug off their concern. "Gotta save Yukiko…" She reasoned, though every fiber of her being was protesting with each movement she made.

"Chie, we're all exhausted, it would be best if we all rested and rescued Yukiko-san tomorrow, " Yu reasoned.

As Chie was about to protest, Teddie piped up, "She's normal right now," He explained. 'Shadows don't attack normal people unless the fog lifts here. You have until then to save her."

"You're sure?" Chie questioned, not quite believing the mysterious bear.

Teddie nodded vigorously, "I'm one hundred bearcent positive!" Normally Chie would have allowed herself an eye roll at the awful pun, but she was far too tired to care.

"Fine," Chie said grudgingly. "But you guys aren't gonna go in later without me!"

"Agreed," Yosuke said. "It's way too dangerous to go alone, and I bet the shadows will just get stronger from here on out."

With everyone in agreement, they slowly made their way out of the castle.

* * *

By the time they finally made it back to the studio area, Chie could barely even walk. Sometime on their way back she had to accept a helping shoulder from Yu, much to her embarrassment. Although she didn't mind the help, it was a matter of pride for her, although Yosuke's teasing certainly didn't help. He had, however, been silenced by the threat of another kick.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Teddie exclaimed. He turned to Chie, producing a pair of glasses from seemingly nowhere. "Chie-chan's glasses!" The bear said, brimming with excitement.

"Dude," Yosuke said in annoyance. "Did you have those the whole time? Why didn't you say anything?"

"As a matter of fact," Teddie began, obviously offended by the accusation," I just finished them right now!"

Chie took the glasses curiously, putting them on carefully. The fog engulfing the area suddenly vanished, allowing her to easily distinguish her surroundings. "Woah this is awesome! I was wondering why you guys had put those on! I'll definitely be back tomorrow with these puppies!"

"Now," Teddie began dramatically, tapping his feet on the floor, again causing the stack of old looking TVs to appear. He bowed dramatically gesturing toward them, "Your exit awaits!"

"So…" Yosuke began. "Who's up first?"


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Sorry this took so long, I've been a little busy getting ready for college and all. I'll try to update a little more frequently, I don't like having to make you guys wait so long between updates. Well anyways, lot's of stuff happens in this chapter, y'know set up and all. Honestly I can't wait to get the rest of the gang together, I've already got some ideas ones the whole investigation team is filled out. Anyways, hope you guys enjoy this one! **

Although Chie had expected to be exhausted from the previous day's events, the next morning she found herself brimming with energy. Ever since yesterday, a strange sense of mental clarity had washed over her, most likely due to the acceptance of her other self. Inside the background of her mind, she could feel the presence of Tomoe, her persona. It urged her to take action, and it took all of Chie's willpower not to just skip school and head straight to the Junes Electronics department. Instead, she found herself walking into her class where Yu and Yosuke were currently talking.

They both turned to look at her, and Chie waved apprehensively. "Mornin'," She greeted, doing her best to sound casual. However, her greeting came across as awkward at best, much to her chagrin. She rubbed the back of her head. _Geez this is embarrassing. _

"Get any sleep?" Yu asked his face tinged with concern.

"Mhm…" Chie managed. "Um… thanks for everything yesterday. Man, this is so embarrassing…" Chie mumbled voicing her previous thoughts. "You guys saw all of my true feelings yesterday…"

"Don't sweat it." Yosuke said easily.

"Oh yeah! The same thing happened to Yosuke right?" Chie couldn't help but be curious. If his shadow had been half as embarrassing as hers it must have said some pretty crazy stuff. At the very least she wanted to be on even footing. _Yeah, seems kinda unfair that he got to see mine when I still have no clue what happened when he faced his,_ Chie reasoned.

"Uhh.. about that," Yosuke said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. Hoping to change the subject, he quickly blurted out, "Oh yeah, nothing happened to you right?" He gestured to Yu, who nodded. "Guess it's because you got nothing to hide, or something," He added hastily.

"Really?" Chie asked, intrigued. "So nothing happened to you? Though I gotta admit, you seem like a pretty open guy. There's a funny air around you, I guess that draws people to you…" In truth, it was something Chie had noticed it the minute he had walked into their class the first day of school, although she carefully left that part out.

"That a compliment?" Yu said with a wry smile.

"Yup," Chie chuckled. "It's a compliment."

"If you say so…" Yosuke said dubiously. Suddenly the bell rang, startling the red haired teenager. "Oh crap!" Yosuke groaned, suddenly in a panic. "I didn't get to use the bathroom!" He ran off in a hurry, desperately hoping to relieve his bladder before class started.

Yu and Chie watched him go. "I take it this happens a lot?" Yu asked, smiling.

Chie laughed in response. "Don't you remember when we first went into the TV? It practically happens every morning." She suddenly noticed that, save for a couple of students in the class, Yu and her were alone in the center of the classroom. A wave of nervousness passed over her as she said, "Um… thanks for saving me yesterday…" She exhaled, feeling stronger now that she had gotten that out. Feeling a bit more confident she continued, "Yosuke's cool and all but… I feel like you won't let me down." She flushed a little at the admission, anxiously waiting for his response.

"I'll do my best not to then." Yu said firmly, smiling up at her from his seat. "Hey…" Yu said suddenly. "Mind if I have your number?"

"Wh-what?" Chie stuttered, shocked at his sudden request. _Relax,_ she scolded herself mentally, _he just needs it so we can get in touch for all this stuff,_ "Oh yeah, you'll probably need it in case we need to meet or something, right?" Chie reasoned as she pulled out her phone. They exchanged numbers, and Chie, feeling bold, continued, "But... um… you can call anytime…" She trailed off hopefully.

"Sure thing," Yu answered, grinning.

The air between them had undoubtedly changed, yet before anything else could happen, Yosuke barged back in, breathing heavily. "Whew," He sighed in relief. "Heh, King Moron isn't even back yet. Score!" Yosuke cheered, pumping his fist in victory. Noticing a lack of reaction from his friends he prodded, "Did I miss something?"

"Not really," Yu said nonchalantly. "We were just discussing our next step."

"Oh really?" Yosuke said, "So what's the plan?"

Not skipping a beat, Yu elaborated, "We go in as far as we can today. If anyone gets tired we'll take a break. Anyone catch the weather report this morning?"

Chie nodded, "Sunny for the next few days, so it looks like we have some time. But I'd rather not wait any longer than we have to."

"Agreed," Yu said diplomatically. "Still, don't push yourselves too hard. Especially you, Chie," Yu added.

"Hey!" Chie said resentfully. "I can handle myself!"

"I know," Yu replied. "But you don't have any experience using your persona. It can take a lot out of you if you aren't careful. We'll start out slow, so you can get a feel for it."

Chie, unable to dispute his point, merely grumbled an agreement.

"Don't worry Chie," Yu said in attempt to placate her. "We'll bring you up to speed and then rescue Yukiko-san in no time."

"Yeah!" Chie said, getting fired up at the prospect.

"Pipe down Satonaka!" Mr. Morooka yelled, apparently having just entered the room. Chie rolled her eyes, and then returned to her seat. As Mr. Morooka began his lecture, Chie's thoughts drifted off to the TV world. Although the situation was dire, she couldn't help but be a little excited at fighting with her persona for the first time. In the back of her mind, Tomoe hummed in approval, no doubt looking forward to fight as well.

* * *

Adrenaline rushed through Chie as she along with her friends literally stormed the castle. After wandering through the castle for a while, their path was blocked by a group of shadows. Their black forms twisted, each taking a different monstrous form. One of the shadows warped into a square form, sprouting legs, its mask settling in front of it. Several blobs emerged from the creature, each taking the shape of a different kitchen utility. It took all of Chie's will not to scoff at the shadow's ridiculous appearance. It was then however, the table shadow elected to erupt into flames, enshrouding its form like a cloak. Chie grinned, _Now that's more like it!_ She ignored the sense of trepidation coming from Tomoe, took a deep breath and called forth the card to summon her persona, her ensuing kick shattering the card, releasing a burst of energy.

"Let's go Tomoe!" Chie shouted, and the samurai emerged.

"Guys!" Teddie shouted urgently, "It look's like this one's weak to ice!"

Suddenly a word appeared in Chie's mind, and suddenly everything was clear to Chie. "Bufu!" She cried out, Tomoe obeying instantly, releasing a torrent of ice shards at the shadow, which stumbled but didn't fall. Chie took the moment of the enemy's weakness to check on Yu and Yosuke, who were currently busy taking out their own groups of shadows.

"Watch out Chie-chan!" Teddie cried, "It's preparing for a counter!"

Before Chie could defend herself, the table released a column of fire, enveloping Tomoe in flames. Chie screamed in pain, the pain was unlike anything she had ever felt. Tomoe knelt over, obviously weakened by the assault.

"It's going to attack again! Someone do something!" Teddie shouted desperately.

As if the situation couldn't get any worse, more shadows were converging on their position; a group of haberles from the looks of it.

Jiraiya intervened on Chie's behalf, finishing off the weakened table shadow with a gust of wind. Helping Chie to her feet, Yosuke examined the closing in monsters. The haberles floated closer, their tongues flickering through the air hungrily.

"A little help partner!" Yosuke shouted, preparing for another attack.

"On it!" Yu said running toward them, Izanagi rushing ahead of him. "Mazio!" Yu shouted, prompting Izanagi to envelope the cluster of enemies in a cluster of lightning, causing the shadows to stop dead in their tracks, stunned.

"Alright, now's our chance!" Yosuke shouted. He grinned at Chie, "Ready for a little redemption?"

"You have no idea," Chie said, quickly rushing towards the shadows together with Yu and Yosuke. In a flurry of slashes, stabs, and kicks, the shadows were eliminated handily.

"Whew, that was close!" Yosuke said wiping off a bead of sweat from his forehead.

"You took a bad hit back there," Yu said, noticing Chie panting slightly.

"It was nothing," Chie insisted, "Just some light burns is all."

"I got just the thing," Yosuke piped up. Conjuring his persona's card, he summoned Jiraiya. "Dia," Yosuke intoned.

Suddenly, Chie felt a relaxing wave course through her, the pain from the battle subsiding instantly. She bounced on her feet mimicking her battle stance, grinning widely, "Good as new! What's next?"

"We need to be more careful," Yu said. "We can't keep going if all fights go like this. From the looks of it, your persona's weak to fire. We all need to keep each other's strengths and weaknesses in mind, that way we can better coordinate our attacks."

Chie nodded, "Alright, I'll handle stuff that's weak to ice or needs to be kicked!"

Yu nodded, then went further into discussing tactics with his teammates.

* * *

After a little planning, the expedition deeper into the castle went much more smoothly. Understanding each other's strengths and weaknesses, they worked through each battle in sync, establishing a battle rhythm of sorts. Chie might freeze an enemy, with Yu or Yosuke following up with a physical attack, shattering their enemies into pieces. Yosuke would blow enemies off balance, prompting Chie to deliver an stratospheric kick, launching the whatever enemy unfortunate enough to be on its receiving end. Yu stunned enemies with electrical attacks, as well as being responsible for adjustments in the teams attack approach, and occasionally giving orders to make the most out of their assaults.

The team was starting to feel confident when they encountered yet another shadow. With everyone preparing for battle like all of their previous ones, they watched as the shadow took form. Its black form twisted, becoming a huge demonic knight, unlike any other shadow that they had previously encountered.

"Be careful!" Teddie warned. "It's a strong one!"

Chie evoked, commanding Tomoe to deliver a crushing strike. Tomoe charged in slashing violently at the shadow. The creature merely shrugged off the blow, then moved to strike back at Tomoe. The persona parried just in time to avoid the attack.

"Physical attacks aren't very effective," Teddie noted after analyzing the aftermath of the attack. "Try magic instead!"

Yosuke nodded, evoking Jiraiya, who proceeded to unleash a rush of wind at the shadow. While the monster appeared more affected by the spell than Chie's attempt, it wasn't as effective as they had hoped. "Any idea what its weak to Ted?" Yosuke asked, narrowly avoiding being charged by the knight.

"Give me a sec…" Teddie said, doing his best to concentrate. "Aha, bearfect! It looks like its weak to fire!"

Yosuke groaned, "No one has any abilities like that!" He launched another wind blast in an attempt to stave off further attacks from the enemy, however he succeeded only in drawing the shadow's ire. Noticing that Yu seemed distracted for some reason, Yosuke shouted out in annoyance, "A little help here partner!"

Yu broke out of whatever daze he as in, evoking his persona card. "Change!" He ordered, and suddenly the arcana of card transformed, taking on the form of the magician. "Come forth, Pyro Jack!" Yu shouted crushing the card within his palm, causing a robed Jack-o-lantern creature to appear.

"What the hell!" Yosuke shouted in surprise. "You can use more than one persona!"

Ignoring Yosuke's question Yu instead uttered a command, "Agilao!" Pyro Jack responded with a powerful fire blast, sending the knight reeling. "Alright, hit it with everything you got!" Yu yelled.

Chie and Yosuke nodded, attacking with their respective magic skills, with Yu delivering the final blow with another powerful fire attack.

"Dude, no fair," Yosuke whined. He suddenly looked curious. "Seriously though how did you do that?" Yu shrugged, clearly as unsure at the unusual emergence of power as the rest of them.

"You did say that he had no shadow, right?" Chie asked. "Maybe he's special or something…"

"That… makes more sense than I'm willing to admit…"

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"

Yosuke's face contorted into a teasing grin, and Chie had just an inkling of what was coming her way.

"Well normally when you go off spouting some crazy idea it's complete bull-"

"Focus guys," Yu interjected, calm and unflappable as ever. He looked towards Yosuke, "I'm not completely sure to be honest…" Yu's expression changed, as if debating on whether to tell them something or not before deciding not to. "It's not important right now; we need to concentrate on the matter at hand."

"Yeah," Chie agreed her expression hardening. The hidden thoughts that had been interspersed as they had gone through Yukiko's castle had formed a resolution within her. If Yukiko really felt like that, it was Chie's job, no duty, as a friend to get knock some sense into her. Chie thought back to when she had first met Yukiko. She closed her eyes, smiling at the memory. She then opened her eyes, a newfound willpower burning behind them. "Alright guys, lets do this!"

Yu and Yosuke nodded, and they went with renewed resolve toward the top of the castle.

* * *

After what seemed like hours later, they reached another door. The gargantuan entrance loomed before them, it's grandeur unlike any other that they had encountered throughout the castle. If there was an end to the mazelike castle, there was little doubt to be had that this was it.

Muffled voices broke through from the other side.

"No… stop, please!"

Chie's eyes widened, there was no mistaking it: she had heard Yukiko's voice. Blowing all caution to the wind she charged through the doors, Yu and Yosuke trailing close behind. Inside they discovered Yukiko, who was accompanied by another twisted version of herself, her shadow, to be exact. In Chie's mind there was no questioning which Yukiko was the real one. The cold, pure malice reflected in the shadow's glowing golden eyes sent chills down her spine. There was no way that the friend that she had come to know over the many years could harbor such an expression.

"Yukiko!" Chie cried, the strain in her voice betraying her intense worry for her friend.

The shadow turned to face them, its face twisting into a sickening smile, it's golden eyes gleaming all the while. "Ah, my three princes have finally come!"

"Three?" Yosuke blurted, his brow furrowed in confusion. "Is it talking about Chie too?"

Teddie appeared behind them, "It's obviously me!"

The shadow however, took no notice of Teddie, causing the bear to visibly deflate along with his ego. "Ah yes, Chie would make a fine prince, after all she's been my prince all these years…" The shadow trailed off, her expression becoming cold, "But Chie isn't good enough, in the end she couldn't save me, she couldn't take me away! Everyone in town keeps going on and on about how they expect me to continue the tradition of that _stupid _inn, not once thinking about what I really want! I'm so sick of it all!"

"T-that's not true," Yukiko stammered, her downcast expression and trembling voice betraying her.

"Oh but it is! I just want my prince to come and take me away from it all? I don't care about that stupid in or those stupid people!"

"No! I don't feel that way at all!" Yukiko protested.

"How can you say that, when I know all of your real thoughts and desires, how you really feel," The shadow laughed, looking down at Yukiko with scorn and condescension. "After all I'm you!"

"No…" Yukiko began.

"Stop Yukiko, don't!" Chie cried, watching helplessly as her friend wrestled with her conflicting emotions.

"You're not me!" Yukiko cried out.

The shadow smirked, the dark aura around it swirling with power. The shadow's form twisted, taking on the form of huge bird, perched inside a huge open cage. "I am a shadow, the true self," The shadow intoned, reminding Chie of her own encounter with her shadow. "Now," The shadow continued, "Which one of you will be my prince? I guess I'll have to put you to the test!" The shadow spread its wings, sending a storm of fire toward the party, catching them off guard.

"Damn," Yosuke cursed, bracing himself for another attack. "This one's strong!"

The shadow focused its attention on Chie, "You're not our prince anymore!" The shadow said scornfully, preparing a powerful fire attack. Chie braced herself, dread overwhelming her senses as the intense heat came closer and closer by the instant. Suddenly, Pyro Jack appeared in front of her, holding out it's lamp toward the approaching flames. The lantern drew in all the flames, swallowing them like a vortex, rendering the fire attack useless. Chie looked over her shoulder appreciatively at Yu, who nodded.

He smiled for a moment, "I said I'd try not to let you down right? Now let's do this!"

Chie turned to face the shadow, calling Tomoe to rain down a storm of ice. Yukiko's shadow cried out sharply falling from its perch. "Alright Tomoe!" Chie shouted, "Let's finish this!" Tomoe nodded in an acknowledgement, delivering a crushing blow to the shadow.

Reeling in pain the shadow cried out, "No! My prince has to save me! I can't-"

"That's enough out of you!" Chie snarled. "Looking toward Yu and Yosuke, she shouted, "Alright guys, pile on!" Yu and Yosuke nodded in conformation, charging in alongside Chie, finishing off the shadow in a flurry of strikes. Dissipating into a black mist, it returned to its twisted form of Yukiko. Yukiko approached the shadow, her gait slow and cautious, eyes trained on the shadow for any signs of hostility.

Finding herself unable to reconcile herself with the being before her she stuttered, "N-no, I'm not- "

"We understand Yukiko-san," Yosuke began, hoping to avoid having the situation get further out of hand. "Everyone has a side like this, something that we can't show others, something we're not proud of…"

Unable to stand the sight of Yukiko in such a state of turmoil, Chie rushed toward her closest friend. "Yukiko, I'm sorry…" Yukiko responded with a look of surprise, confusion adorning her expression. "I was so self absorbed with myself, that I didn't even realize what you were going through." Chuckling bitterly, she continued "Some friend I am, huh?"

"Chie…"

"The truth is, I was jealous of you. I guess that made me blind to what you where going through. I…" Chie swallowed, "I wanted you to need me… But really, I was the one who needed you." Attempting to smile she went on, "I'm not as strong as you think you know… It was only because you were with me."

"Chie…" Yukiko began softly. "I didn't see the real you either. I was just searching for an easy way out…" Suddenly resolve lit Yukiko's face as she turned to face her shadow. "'I want to run away,' 'I want someone to come and save me.' You're right," Yukiko admitted, "Sometimes I really do feel that way. I understand now, you're me." The shadow nodded, its form transforming into a beautiful pink figure, shimmering brightly before revealing the card that held Yukiko's persona. Suddenly, Yukiko collapsed in exhaustion.

"Yukiko!" Chie cried out, rushing toward her fallen friend.

"I'm alright," Yukiko managed, "I'm just so tired…"

Suddenly Teddie, burst from behind the group, "So who threw you in?"

Confusion and shock were etched onto Yukiko's face as she responded, "Umm, I'm not sure… Umm… Who are you… Rather, what are you?"

"I'm Teddie," The bear replied cheerfully.

Yukiko concentrated, straining to remember, "I think… someone called my name… My memories a blur honestly… I'm sorry Teddie."

Teddie's previously cheerful expression quickly turned downcast. "No new clues…"

"Not exactly," Yosuke piped up. "Now we know for sure that Yukiko was thrown in somehow."

"So it really isn't you guys?" Teddie thought out loud.

"You still suspected us?" Yu asked.

Teddie shrunk a little, "J-just joking sensei!"

"What the!" Yosuke shouted, obviously angered by Teddie's lingering doubts. "You suspected us after all that? You're one lying sack of honey, you know that!"

"Anyways," Chie cut off, preventing the conflict from escalating. "Lets get Yukiko outta here, she looks exhausted." Yu and Yosuke nodded in agreement, beginning to make their way back toward the castle entrance.

"Wait, you're just leaving me here?" Teddie cried out.

"Leaving you?" Yosuke asked, puzzled by Teddie's reaction. "Don't you live here?"

"W-well yeah but…"

"Don't worry Teddie," Yukiko interrupted, beginning to stroke the bears head. "I promise I'll come back, just stay here and be a good boy." Teddie was practically purring at the attention.

Suddenly the bear blurted out, "My, my, it's getting kinda crowded in here… Why don't you and I go somewhere else?" The bear wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, prompting the rest of the team to groan inwardly at Teddie's flirtatious antics.

"That's it!" Yosuke shouted, "You are officially stuck here for life! Creep…"

"I would like to get out of here though," Yukiko said out of the blue, causing Teddie to unleash a one hundred megawatt grin.

Chie glared at him, "That's not what she meant! Geez, quick being such a perv Ted!"

"Umm.. did I miss something?" Yukiko asked, completely oblivious to Teddie's less than noble intentions. Everyone else groaned in response and in the end, it was Chie who was left with the unenviable task of attempting to explain as they made their way out of the castle.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hey guys! Looks like it's becoming a bit of a habit for me to update on Sundays. I'm glad that at the very least that I can deliver some new stuff on a consistently regular basis, but that might change when college amps up. Anyways although this chapter is a good bit shorter than some of the other ones it has some (hopefully) interesting stuff for you guys to dive into. Yukiko is kind of a hard character to nail down with so many contrasting traits: fragility and strength, intelligence and naivety, yada yada. On a side note I'd like to thank Meia42 for the long and detailed review, hopefully you'll like this chapter, it has more of what you were asking for. On a random note I'll probably be changing the summary to better reflect the content, so if you guys would care to comment on that sometime please do! Anyways sorry for the long note if you're still reading this, please enjoy the chapter and if you have any comments or critiques please leave a review! **

After Yukiko's rescue, the next days were business as usual. Chie would often visit Yukiko, who was staying at home for the time being while she recovered. She was on her way to the inn now, having rushed out as soon as school let out. She walked into the inn, greeted by Yukiko's mother.

"Ah, Chie-chan, good to see you as always," The woman smiled gently. She had quickly gotten accustomed to Chie's visits, notifying her that Yukiko was in her usual room. Thanking her, Chie quickly rushed toward the room.

Walking into the traditionally decorated room, she saw her friend sprawled out across her futon, looking bored. Her mother had practically forced her to stay home for the time being, both out of concern for her health as well as the motherly worry that had emerged from the fact that her daughter had likely been kidnapped in some way, most likely wanting to keep an eye her daughter for a while for assurance that she was truly safe.

Noticing Chie, Yukiko's face lit up with happiness. "Oh, Chie! I'm glad to see you! Although you don't have to worry so much, I'm getting better, really!"

Chie chuckled, "I know, I know… I just… after all this crazy stuff, how can I not?"

Yukiko nodded in understanding. "You know, I never got a chance to really thank you all…"

"Don't sweat it!" Chie insisted, her tone firm. "That's what friends are for right?"

"But Yu-kun barely even knows me," Yukiko pointed out. "And yet he risked his life to save me. That says a lot about the kind of person he is…"

"Yeah," Chie agreed, "He's a nice guy, no doubt about it!" She looked down at Yukiko, who was looking at her knowingly. "Don't start this again!" Chie groaned.

"Start what?" Yukiko said, the perfect image of feigned obliviousness.

Chie narrowed her eyes, "You know exactly what I'm talking about!"

"Okay, okay," Yukiko relenting, chuckling as she did. "You know, some first years came by to visit the hot spring and were talking about how they saw Yu-kun and Ai-chan together…"

"What!" Chie said in disbelief, "No way Yu would hang out with someone like that!"

"Yu-kun, you mean?" Yukiko said, practically grinning from ear to ear at this point.

_Damn,_ Chie cursed mentally, berating herself for the small, yet important omission. "Yes, Yu-_kun_," Chie said levelly, particularly stressing the honorific. "Geez Yukiko, it's not like a little slip meant anything! Man, when did you start getting so nosy?"

"Alright, alright," Yukiko chuckled, appearing to let the matter drop, much to Chie's belief. As it would turn out, however, her hope was somewhat misplaced. "Still, you seem kind of upset about Ai-chan…"

Chie frowned. "Whatever, he can hang out with whoever he wants, s'not like we own him or anything. And… she's really pretty and all…" Chie trailed off, looking at the ground glumly.

"So are you Chie," Yukiko countered.

"Wh-what?" Chie stammered, surprised by Yukiko's random outburst. "W-well anyways…"

"I think it's time we talked a little bit about some of things we found out about ourselves when we entered the TV…" Yukiko began. Chie swallowed, although the conversation was long overdue, she had been dreading it ever since they had rescued Yukiko. Even so, Chie knew it was something they had to do; they owed it to each other as long time friends. "You said you were jealous of me… Why?" Yukiko asked.

"Well… you're smart, practically all the guys drool over you while I'm practically chopped liver…"

"Really?" Yukiko said, having obviously been oblivious of such attention.

"Well yeah… I guess, next to you I just don't feel like I have many redeeming qualities…""

"Chie…" Yukiko said softly. "That's not true. You're strong, outgoing, funny… Don't you remember how we became friends?"

"Yeah," Chie said, reminiscing. "I do remember…"

Yukiko smiled, "Don't sell yourself short Chie, there are _plenty_ of redeeming qualities about you… With your support, I feel like one day… I'll be able to go and make something of myself, something more than just the heir to the Amagi Inn."

"Whatever you decide," Chie piped up, "I'm with you, all the way!" Her expression was resolute, she meant every word.

"I know," Yukiko said, smiling a little brighter. "You always have been…"

"That's right!" Chie said fiercely. "And don't you forget it!"

"I won't," Yukiko promised. "Thank you Chie…"

"You too…" Chie said, her voice softer now. The two friends sat in a amicable silence, no further words were needed.

* * *

After her talk with Yukiko, Chie decided stop by Junes for a snack. _Whew, that was a little heavy, I worked up a bit of an appetite on that one,_ Chie mused, heading straight to the food court.

Upon her arrival, a familiar voice greeted her, "Yo, Chie, what's up!"

Chie turned to see Yosuke, as cheerful as usual, clad in his Junes apron. "Oh yeah that reminds me," Yosuke said, digging into her apron pouch, pulling out brand new copy of Trial of the Dragon, the special edition no less. "Picked this up for nine hundred yen. If I had known it was only that much I wouldn't have bought you that food the other day!" Yosuke grinned smugly, "No more free loading!"

"Ugh fine, just get me the usual then," Chie said, rolling her eyes.

"That'd be six hundred and twenty yen." Yosuke said holding out his palm, clearly enjoying himself.

Chie grudgingly forked over the money, and Yosuke walked off to place the order, whistling happily on his way to the grill. Chie took a seat, and moments later, Yosuke joined her, passing her a lemon soda and a food tray with grilled steak. Chie quickly starting sipping her beverage, sighing in content at her favorite fizzy drink. Chie leaned back in her chair. After her talk with Yukiko, she felt like she had lifted a burden off of her shoulders, feeling better than ever.

"Hey," Yosuke began, "Did you hear the rumor that Yu's been hanging around the hot new soccer manager? Man, that dude must be able to work some serious magic if he can get _that_!"

"Huh, so it's true then…" Chie said absently.

"Wait, you mean you already knew?" Yosuke said. Usually he caught wind of all of the town rumors first, either by gossiping part-timers or housewives.

"Yeah," Chie replied. "I visited Yukiko today; she told me."

"Oh yeah, students do go there from time to time," Yosuke said, understanding coming to his features.

"Still can't believe he would hang out with her," Chie muttered bitterly.

"Why not?" Yosuke asked, obviously shocked. As usual, he failed to notice anything about the situation other than the fact that an attractive girl was involved. Suddenly a sly grin came to Yosuke's features. "Oh," He drawled, long and dramatic. "I get it! Man, Yu sure is a ladies man!"

"What are you going on about?" Chie replied, irritated at Yosuke's mischievous antics.

Completely ignoring her, Yosuke went on, "Don't worry, I'll help you out! Hmm… partner said he had a soccer game tomorrow… Hey! I bet if you went, he'd really appreciate it! Then you could let that manager chick know who's-"

"Yosuke," Chie cut in, desperately trying to stop Yosuke while she still had the chance. Once he started concocting one of his harebrained schemes it was difficult to stop him. "It's not like _that_!" Chie said, hoping to clear the air.

"Aww, it's alright Chie, you don't have to beat around the bush or anything, Yu's…" Yosuke stopped mid-sentence when Chie sent him a glare that would make even the bravest souls stop and think for a moment. "Heh…" Yosuke swallowed nervously. "Got it, it's not like that." Pausing for a moment to let Chie's anger diffused, Yosuke bit the bullet and prodded further. "So… um… if it isn't like that then…" He trailed off, hoping she'd fill in the rest.

"From what Yukiko told me she can be a bit of a bitch," Chie explained. "I just am worried that she's pushing him around or something."

Yosuke's devious grinned reappeared. "Right," He said, in a matter that indicated that he didn't fully accept that explanation. "It's not at all because you're jealous or…" Chie glared at him again. "Right not like that, forget I said anything… Well uh, I gotta get back to work so see you later," Yosuke said hastily, quickly running off to avoid furthering Chie's fury.

"Typical Yosuke," Chie scoffed, "Always getting the wrong idea." Chie quickly squashed the line of thought that Yosuke's idea might not be as crazy as it sounded, deciding instead to turn her attention to her now cold meal.

* * *

How Yosuke had managed to drag her here she would never know. Despite all of her protests, Yosuke had somehow managed to get her to come to the soccer game the next day. She rationalized it as going out to support a friend. After all, it was the least she could do after all Yu had done for them in just his short time at Inaba so far. Although she had initially been apprehensive at the beginning of the game, she quickly found herself cheering for the team. Chie hated losing in any form, and with the school team being an extension of herself, she didn't want them to lose either.

Initially things looked promising for the team. Yu turned out to be a surprise MVP, managing to score a goal only minutes into the game. Together with the other star player, Daisuke Nagase, they made a formidable force. The rest of the team was another story however. Although they were playing hard, they simply couldn't keep up with the other team's players, and Yu and Daisuke's efforts were slowly being overwhelmed. Suddenly she noticed the two look at each other and nod. Suddenly, Daisuke went toward the opposing team member currently in possession of the ball, managing to steal it with some deft foot work. Running over the midfield line, he then expertly shot the ball to Yu, who had obviously been prepared for this chain of events. Lining himself up, Yu shot the ball with keen precision the ball hitting home in the opposing teams net, past the outstretched arms of the goalie.

"Yeah, way to go Yu-kun!" Chie cheered, earning a smile and thumbs up from Yu. Despite the valiant effort, the team lost as the other team made more goals than Yasogami could match. Coming off the field, Yu approached a bored looking Ai, who passed him a water bottle carelessly. Getting down from the bleachers, Chie approached Yu.

"Hey, great job out there!" Chie said, deciding to focus on the positives of the game rather than the loss.

Yu shrugged, "We could have done better."

"Well it's only the first game right? There's always next time, right?"

Yu smiled, "Yeah I guess so." Grabbing a towel to wipe off the sweat from his forehead, Yu continued, "Well, the teams going to head to Aiya after we clean up a bit, so I'll catch you later ok?"

"Yeah sure," Chie replied, "Hey… I was thinking, we should probably make sure we're ready in case… you know," Chie trailed off, hoping he would catch her meaning.

Yu nodded, understanding exactly what she was talking about: more incidents concerning the midnight channel and the mysterious murders. "Did you have something in mind?" Yu asked.

"Well, sometimes after school I'll head over to the river bank to train? Practice my moves y'know?" Chie said, her tone growing slightly more excited as she finished explaining. Training was one of Chie's favorite things to do, it allowed her to take her mind off of things, namely her lack of aptitude in the academics department, and blow off some steam, getting stronger all the while. "So I was thinking that maybe you could join me sometime? I think it'd be fun, we could practice all sorts of techniques and exercises. Oooh, and maybe we could spar sometimes too!"

"Just go easy on the kicks," Yu chuckled, having witnessed their devastating power both in the real world and the shadow one.

"You mean you will?" Chie said, a little surprised. After pleading constantly but always being refused by even Yukiko, Chie had assumed that she would always have to train on her own. "Awesome!" Chie shouted, pumping her fist. Fearing that she had gotten a little carried away she flushed, apprehensively rubbing the back of her head. "So… uh… whenever you feel like it, just meet me on the roof after school and we'll get started."

"Sounds good," Yu replied, gathering his things off the field bench.

"Well, see you around!" Chie said, waving him off.

As Yu left, Chie felt a presence approach from behind her. "Is that your idea of asking someone on a date?" A cold voice taunted.

Turning around, Chie saw Ai who was sneering at her in contempt. "Yu-kun and I are just friends," Chie said firmly, for what felt like the hundredth time that week.

"Of course," Ai said darkly, "After all why would Yu-kun date someone like you anyway?"

"What's your problem? I heard you were bossing him around, you better not be pushing him around or anything!" Chie snapped, growing irritated with Ai's standoffish behavior.

"Oh don't tell me you like him?" Ai asked, laughing scornfully. "You're better off giving up now!"

"I've just about had it with you!" Chie said, practically steaming at the ears at this point. Chie suddenly took a deep breath to try to regain her composure. _No point in wasting my breath on her_, Chie reasoned starting to gain a semblance of calm. "You know what? I don't need to listen to this," Chie said firmly, leaving Ai in shock. Making her way to the school gate, running into Yosuke.

"Damn," He offered, clearly at a loss for a word. He did an impression of an angry cat, hissing comically.

"Tell me about it," Chie replied, rolling her eyes.

"Well on the bright side," Yosuke said, the usual mischievous glint returning to his eyes, "Sounds like someone's got some plans for tomorrow…"

"For the last time-" Chie began indignantly.

Yosuke raised his hands defensively, "I know, I know. Still, taking down Ai-chan a peg, while getting Inaba's most eligible bachelor to hang out with you… Not bad!"

"What are you going on about now?" Chie groaned.

"You mean you haven't heard? Partner's been causing quite a stir among our local ladies. Have you seen his shoe locker lately? Hell, there practically an avalanche every week. Most of 'em are first years but I swear there was even some third years too!"

Yosuke sighed. "Yu's really got the magic or something?"

"Hey what's up with you? You seem down all of a sudden," Chie noticed.

Yosuke instantly perked up again with a smile, although this one seemed far less genuine than normal. "Aww, it's nothin'," He assured, doing his best to sound cheerful. Glancing at his phone he checked the time. "Well I'm running a little for my shift so I'll see you later!" Yosuke said, hurrying off to his bike.

_Huh, _Chie mused, _that was kind of weird._ Shrugging it off she decided to head home, where a brand new pack of instant noodles was just waiting to be devoured.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Ack! It's been forever since I last updated, and I am sincerely sorry for the wait! Between some family stuff and moving in to college along with my first week of classes, things have been a little hectic as of late. Despite this, I'm happy to report that after experimenting with the amount of spare time I have after doing assignments and such, my next updates will probably not be this far apart. Back to the story, I wanted to go a little further in this chapter, but I felt like I reached a good stopping point, that's always a thing I have a bit of an issue with. Anyways I hope you all enjoy this one, and please, if you have any comments/criticisms/concerns please feel free to leave a review!**

Throughout the next day, Chie was filled with a nervous energy. Although her plans with Yu weren't completely set in stone yet, she couldn't help but be a little excited, despite Yosuke teasing her to no end about it. As the lunch bell rang she decided to walk over to his desk. Yu sat motionless at his desk eyes glazed over and blank, obviously put in some trance-like state following the less than exhilarating content of the history lecture. How he managed to zone out like this and was still able to feed Yosuke and herself answers from time to time was a mystery to her. She couldn't really blame him though, she herself had taken the past class to catch up on some much needed sleep.

"Hey," Chie began, "You alive in there?" She waved her hand in front of his vacant eyes in an attempt to rouse him.

"Huh? Oh Chie…" Yu began slightly startled. He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "Sorry about that, Mrs. Sofue's history lectures put me almost straight to sleep."

"Ha, no kidding, I feel your pain there," Chie replied, laughing softly.

"I guess its lunch time now," Yu said. Appearing to remember something, he produced a bento box filled with sealed plastic containers from his bag. "I made some extra," Yu offered. "Meat stew," He added tantalizingly, seeming to know that there was no way she could refuse now.

"Well when you put it like that…" Chie said, her stomach growling at the thought, any previous inhibitions thrown to the wind.

"C'mon, lets head to the roof," Yu said, gesturing her to come with him. Exiting the classroom and entering the hallway, they made their way through the droves of students chatting idly, most complaining about their respective teacher and lecture or discussing the latest gossip. "So, how's Yukiko doing?" Yu asked offhandedly.

"She's doing well," Chie responded. "I saw her yesterday actually, trust me she is fully recovered," Chie went on, rolling her eyes as she recalled her friends prodding. "Only thing keeping her from coming back right away is her mom, she was a little freaked y'know?"

Yu nodded simply then continued, "We should get together sometime so we can discuss things. She might be able to remember something now, at least get us an idea of what we're dealing with. With any luck, we'll be one step closer."

"I'll let her know," Chie said, shielding her eyes for a moment as they climbed the last of the stairs and went outside onto the roof. The weather outside was perfect, the sun shining brightly amongst some sparse clouds, the brisk spring temperature complimenting it perfectly. Sitting down with Yu, she waited with baited breath as Yu handed her a warm container along with a pair of chopsticks. Opening the steaming stew, she inhaled deeply, taking in the exquisite aroma. Not hesitating for a moment longer, she picked out a piece of meat, shoving it into her mouth without hesitation. Her eyes widened as it hit her tongue: _This is awesome!_

Chie quickly vocalized her delight, "Wow this is great! Who knew you could cook?"

"It took some trial and error, believe me," Yu chuckled. "I picked up a couple of things cooking for myself at home, and trust me, it didn't always go well. The first time I made it, I set the stove on too hot and burnt it. The result was far less appealing from what you're getting now and definitely inedible." Yu smiled at the memory, and Chie couldn't help but chuckle at the thought of a younger Yu scrambling over a pot of burning soup.

Chie devoured the rest of the meal quickly, loudly slurping the broth from the container. "Man that was good!" Chie suddenly fidgeted nervously. Not only had she completely devoured the soup in the most unladylike way possible, but no one had ever cooked anything for her. At least with the exception of her parents, and although Yukiko had offered before, though one of employees at the inn was quick to dissuade her for some reason. The fact that Yu had taken the time to do this sent a strange, yet not wholly unpleasant feeling through her. "Umm… did you make this for me?"

"I thought you'd like it," Yu smiled. "Well, now we'll be ready for training after school."

"Definitely!" Chie replied, voice brimming with unbridled enthusiasm. She suddenly became a little more apprehensive as she continued, "But… uh, thanks…"

"Don't mention it," Yu said nonchalantly. "That's what friends are for right?"

Chie laughed in response, "Well, I don't think any of my friends have made me lunch before."

"First time for everything," Yu offered.

"Yeah, I guess so," Chie chuckled.

Suddenly the warning bell rang throughout the school, signaling that classes would resume shortly.

"Well, better get going," Chie said, "Meet me here after school if you're still free okay?"

"I'll be there," Yu agreed, gathering his things hastily. Getting up he gestured toward the door that led back downstairs. "Ready for the next one?"

Chie groaned in response, "Don't remind me."

* * *

Shortly after the final bell rang, Yu proved to be a man of his word, meeting Chie on the roof as asked. Chie was now enthusiastically leading him to the Samegawa River Bank, barely able to restrain her excitement. _School might not be my thing, _Chie thought, _but if there's one thing I can do, its train!_ _With Yu around I won't have any excuse to slack off! Wouldn't want to get out of practice with all this crazy crap going on. _Chie had chosen their training location carefully, learning that adequate space was necessary following an incident where she had gotten a little overzealous trying to train at home, much to the chagrin of her parents.

Sharing her experience Chie began, "I would've just trained at home… but I kinda might've kicked a hole in the shoji." She rubbed the back of her head sheepishly, expecting Yu to laugh or poke fun at her like Yosuke probably would've.

Yu only smiled however, saying, "I'd say they're lucky that there was only a hole seeing what you did to those shadows. Definitely wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of that."

"Heh… was that a compliment?" Chie asked.

"Yep," Yu replied, grinning, "It's a compliment."

They both chuckled, making their way down the steps that lead to the bank. Chie quickly attempted to ignore the strange feeling in her stomach, writing it off to her appetite acting up. Taking a moment to limber up. Stretching her arms above her head, she looked at Yu expectantly. "Alright, let's do this!"

Yu nodded, taking off his school jacket and setting it carefully aside before beginning to stretch himself.

"Alright," Chie began enthusiastically, "Let's start with some frog leaps!" Yu paled in reaction, doing his best not to visibly flinch before nodding hesitantly.

A couple of hours later Chie declared, "I think that's enough to for the day. Good warm up for next time right Yu-kun?"

"Yeah…" Yu replied, breathing heavily from exertion, "Definitely…"

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow!" Chie said, waving at Yu as she began to make her way back home.

Doing his best to stand up straight and wave, Yu managed a weak smile. When she was out of earshot he muttered, "I'm so screwed for soccer practice tomorrow…"

* * *

On her way to school the next day, she was greeted by Yosuke. "Soooo…" He drawled, "How'd your date with partner go?"

"Shut up! Geez someone might here you!" Chie hissed.

"Someone's awfully defensive…" Yosuke continued teasingly.

"We were just training you idiot!"

"Oh, 'training' huh?" Yosuke began, clearly on the beginning of a roll. "Is that what they're calling it these days? Get in some 'full-contact sparring?'"

"You're such a pervert Yosuke!" Chie shouted.

Yosuke shrugged, used to the accusation. "Well if we're calling like we see it…"

Chie rolled her eyes, quickening her pace in an attempt to end the conversation.

Suddenly a familiar voice greeted her, "Chie!"

Chie raised her eyes, finding Yukiko by the school gates. "Yukiko! I didn't know you'd be back today!"

"To be honest, neither did I," Yukiko chuckled.

Yosuke joined them and quickly addressed Yukiko, "Good to have you back Yukiko-san!" Grinning slyly he continued, "Hey did you hear about-"

"Stuff it Yosuke!" Chie hissed angrily. _Last thing I need is some more 'girl talk.' _Although Chie did enjoy talking to Yukiko, she certainly did not like where their most recent conversations had been gravitating towards.

"Hear about what?" Yukiko asked, already intrigued.

Chie glared daggers at Yosuke. "You won't say anything if you know what's good for you!"

Before Yosuke could respond Yukiko spoke up, "Oh look, Yu-kun is here!"

"Hey guys," Yu said, a little surprised to see all of his friends gathered at the school gate.

"You look a little tired Yu-kun," Yukiko noted.

"Just a little sore from yesterday," Yu replied, rolling his neck along his back.

Yosuke let out a snicker and was rewarded with a sharp elbow from Chie.

"Did I miss something?" Yukiko asked, still ignorant of the situation at the moment.

"Nope!" Chie interjected quickly, hurriedly attempting to change the subject. "Umm… Yu-kun said that we should all meet up to talk about the case after school sometime!"

"Good thinking partner," Yosuke agreed. "If we're lucky, we might even be able to stop the killer before he can hurt anyone else!"

Before they could reach an agreement another student approached the group. "Hey Narukami, you going to practice after school?"

Yu stiffened a bit but nodded, "I'll be there."

"Alright! Gotta get ready for the next game right?"

"Umm… yeah," Yu replied, not quite returning the enthusiasm. "I'll see you at practice Daisuke."

The other student nodded before going to his own class. Yu looked at the others apologetically, "Sorry guys I'm tied up for today."

"No sweat partner," Yosuke replied easily. "Man's gotta do what a man's gotta do right? We'll just meet up tomorrow alright?"

"Sounds good," Yu agreed as they all began head to their own class.

* * *

After school, Chie opted to walk with Yukiko back to the bus station. It was a familiar routine that had only just recently been interrupted with the emergence of the case. Mercifully, Yukiko had yet to ask just what exactly Yosuke had been meaning to tell her. Chie mentally sighed in relief that her ever curious friend hadn't ventured further on the topic. However, Yukiko was quick to dash all hopes that she was out of the woods.

"Yosuke-kun seemed really excited this morning about something… Is there some event going on at school that I missed?"

"Erm… yeah, something like that," Chie said lamely.

"Oh…" Yukiko said softly, sounding disappointed. "It's okay you don't have to tell me."

Chie sighed at Yukiko's crestfallen appearance. Yukiko knew that this was her biggest Achilles' heel, her only weakness, other than an opportunity for steak of course.

"Geez, quit moping like that," Chie said exasperatedly, and Yukiko's expression immediately brightened, much to Chie's lack of surprise. Sighing loudly, Chie resigned herself to explain, thankful at least that Yosuke hadn't been able to give any 'embellishment' to what had actually happened. "I just trained yesterday with Yu-kun." Bracing for what was sure to be a barrage of questions, Chie was surprised to discover Yukiko's lack of reaction.

"That explains why Yu-kun was so tired this morning," Yukiko said, the puzzle pieces in her mind fitting together. She appeared deep in thought for a moment then added, "But that doesn't explain why Yosuke was so excited though…"

"Well, you know Yosuke, always taking things and blowing them way out of proportion." Chie scowled.

"That's true," Yukiko noted. "But then, why were you so quick to try and change the subject?"

"Because Yosuke would've made a huge deal out of it and given you the wrong idea," Chie explained desperately, hoping to end this conversation as quickly as possible.

"If it isn't a big deal, why are you being so defensive about it?" Yukiko asked innocently.

"Because- argh!" Chie cut herself off mid explanation, growing tired of this line of questioning. "We are done talking about this! Geez, when did you get all observant and stuff?" Chie muttered darkly.

Yukiko only giggled in response to Chie's lack of mirth, which only served to further foul Chie's mood. Thankfully, she did let the matter drop, much to Chie's relief. Suddenly turning her gaze to the sky, she turned to Chie. "Have you seen the weather reports? It's going to rain soon…"

"Oh man, that means Aiya is going to have their rainy day special!" Chie said, envisioning the moment when she finally conquered the legendary Mega Beef Bowl.

"Chie…" Yukiko said solemnly. "You saw me on the Midnight Channel before I was…" She trailed off, not wanting to remember the incident. "What if someone else-"

"I know, Yukiko," Chie said firmly, her previous levity nowhere to be seen. "That's why we gotta stop him… we're the only ones who can." Noticing her friends gloom she tried to be optimistic, "Hey for all we know it's all over now, right?"

Yukiko only nodded slightly, walking silently alongside Chie for the rest of their walk.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Sorry for the wait! With a test and term paper taking up most of my time for the past week or two I was a little burnt out on writing for a bit. Though GTAV didn't help that much either admittedly. Anyway I'll keep it brief this time, hope you all enjoy the chapter and please review with you like/dislikes/comment/critiques/flames/fan-girling /etc. It is all appreciated, and hopefully the next chapter will be up within the week! **

The next day the Investigation Team came together, having agreed to meet at the Junes food court to discuss the case. They all sat around a table, and at the moment, an awkward silence was held between them all.

Taking the initiative as the de-facto leader, Yu broke the silence. "Okay, we all know why we're here." He looked over at Yukiko, then continued, "Yukiko-san, I know this you probably just want to forget what happened, but if you can tell us anything that might help…"

Yukiko paused, straining to remember something, anything that might be of use. Sighing she replied, "I'm sorry, I can't really remember anything from what I've already told you. I remember someone calling me, but I can't remember anything about who they might be."

"Don't sweat it Yukiko-san," Yosuke reassured. "Let's see, what do we got so far? All the victims have been in Inaba as far as we know. And…" Yosuke strained to come up with another connection.

"So far all the victims have been women," Yu noted, "But it's too early to say that the killer is targeting them specifically."

"Ugh, maybe the killer's some kind of perv," Chie said, shuddering at the thought.

Suddenly Yosuke was struck with a bolt of inspiration, "Wait, Yukiko-san, the announcer lady was staying at the inn right?" Yukiko nodded, prompting Yosuke to continue softly, "And… senpai found her body…"

"So you think they're all connected to the announcer in some way?" Yu asked.

"I'm not sure," Yosuke admitted, "But I think we might be getting somewhere."

"It's going to rain in a couple of days," Yukiko noted.

"Then I think our best bet is checking out the Midnight Channel when we can," Yosuke suggested. "So far all the victims have been appearing on before they get kidnapped, like some kind of advance notice or something."

"But why?" Yukiko asked, clearly baffled at the phenomenon.

"At this point, it doesn't really matter," Yu said firmly. "If we can use the Midnight Channel to predict who the next victim might be, we could stop this once and for all, maybe even prevent the next kidnapping." The rest of the group voiced their agreement. Yu then shifted his gaze toward Yukiko, "One last thing… Yukiko-san, you also have a persona now and I don't imagine this will get any easier… Will you lend us your strength?"

"Whoa, are you serious? No way!" Chie protested.

"Chie, it's okay… If I can use my power for good then why shouldn't I?" Seeing that Chie remained unconvinced, she continued, "Besides, we'll all be fighting together right?" Looking back at Yu she replied, "I'm not sure how much help I'll be, but I'll do whatever I can."

"Don't worry Yukiko-san, we'll get you up to speed," Yosuke said. Getting a sly glint in his eyes he went on, "Hell, I could show you a thing or two on our own, there's not much partner and Chie can't handle."

"Don't even think about it," Chie growled. "I know what you're trying to pull and it's not gonna work! We're sticking together, and that's final!"

Yosuke pouted before conceding. "Alright, alright… on that note I think we should agree not to go in there alone, it's too dangerous, and we don't need any extra bodies hanging around." The rest of the group nodded in assent, all agreeing whole-heartedly with Yosuke for once. "Well I think that's all we can do for now, this Investigation Team meeting is now adjourned!" Yosuke exclaimed, brimming with enthusiasm.

"Do you even know what that means?" Chie asked, rolling her eyes at Yosuke's attempt at using an extended vocabulary. Yosuke made a face of mock offense, used to Chie taking stabs at his intelligence.

Oblivious to Chie's jab, Yukiko was beaming with excitement. "Investigation Team?" Giggling she went on, "Does that make this our secret hideout?"

"Man that sounds awesome!" Chie exclaimed, recalling some of her childhood fantasies of being trained by a hidden ninja clan.

"It does have a nice ring to it," Yosuke agreed. "Alright," He began matter-of-factly, "I declare this to be the Investigation Team's Secret Hideout!"

"We're in public, at a supermarket, and I'm pretty sure the people at that table over there are staring at us now," Yu remarked dryly, earning him glares from his friends. He raised his hands in resignation, unwilling to argue the point any further.

"Alright guys," Yosuke began, "We'll meet up again after watching the Midnight Channel again, hopefully then we'll be able to glean some more leads." The team nodded resolutely, then went their separate ways.

* * *

The next morning, Chie walked along the roads of Inaba in the brisk morning weather, navigating through the sleepy town's residential areas. She had called Yukiko earlier in the morning, asking if she wanted to get together to hang out. With the inn less busy than usual and her Golden Week weekend otherwise free, her friend had agreed, and suggested to invite Yu and possibly meet up with Yosuke when he was off the clock. With that, Chie had set out to go to Yu's house, which was surprisingly easy with Yu's uncle being a detective, and in asking some local housewives for directions, Chie found herself slowly backing away as they mused wistfully about Detective Dojima.

Finally arriving at Yu's house, Chie rang the doorbell without much thought. In hindsight, she could have called or texted him, but it hadn't occurred to her at the time. _I wonder if he's up, _Chie mused. _We've all been staying up a bit later than normal, _Chie thought grimly. With the killer still at large and the reoccurring appearance of the Midnight Channel, Chie was certain that they had all been kept up at night.

Before she could further ponder the matter, a slightly disheveled looking Yu answered the door. Recognition lighting his features he smiled, greeting her.

"Morning!" Chie said brightly. Getting straight to the point she continued, "Wanna come hang out today? Yukiko's coming along too."

Before Yu could answer a soft voice behind him asked, "Are you going somewhere?" Behind Yu a young girl appeared, Yu's cousin no doubt. "It's okay, I'll just watch TV and stay home." Despite her answer, she looked visibly disappointed.

_What! _Chie thought, shocked. _No kid should be staying inside during Golden Week!_

"Hey, why don't you come with us?" Chie offered.

"What do you say Nanako?" Yu said, addressing his cousin.

Nanako looked genuinely surprised. "I can come?"

"Of course you can!" Chie said reassuringly, in her usual cordial manner.

"Then it's settled," Yu said. Suddenly remembering he was still in his morning clothes, he quickly excused himself, returning momentarily. With everyone ready to go, they left the Dojima residence with haste.

* * *

Upon arriving at the Junes food court they met up with Yosuke, who was currently on break with Yukiko arriving shortly after. He was visibly surprised that they had brought Nanako along with them, to a supermarket, on Golden Week, and was quick to voice his concern.

"Man why would you guys bring Nanako-chan here on a day like this!"

Nanako however was quick to contradict him, enthusiastically blurting out, "I love Junes!"

Yosuke nearly flinched in surprise, having been used to the store being demonized and himself being regarded as a pariah of sorts in the small town. "Nanako-chan…"

"See?" Chie reassured. "It wasn't that bad of an idea. Besides, there's not much else to do around here anyway."

"So Nanako-chan," Yukiko piped up. "Did you have any other plans for Golden Week?"

Nanako looked slightly downcast at the question. "Well… we were going to have a boxed lunch picnic… but dad's been busy lately." At this last remark, a grim silence descended on the group, all of them all too aware as to why this was the case.

"Wow Nanako-chan! You can make boxed lunches all by yourself?" Chie asked, in an attempt to lighten the mood.

Nanako blushed a little at the flattery, but was quick to set the record straight. "Actually, he was going to make them," Nanako replied, gesturing towards Yu.

"Now that you mention it I'm not surprised," Chie replied, remembering the meal that Yu had prepared the other day. "Must be nice having a big bro who can cook, huh?"

"Wow partner, never pegged you for the cooking type, though I guess it's not too surprising, you're pretty good with your hands," Yosuke said, making a not so subtle to Yu's skillful use of his sword in their excursions to the shadow world.

Meanwhile, Nanako seemed to be pondering what Chie had said earlier, "Big… bro…" she said softly.

Yukiko expressed her admiration at Yu's ability, lamenting her own lack of success.

"Hey," Chie piped up, an idea forming in her mind. "Why don't we all make something for Nanako-chan?"

"I don't know," Yosuke began doubtfully. "I haven't really cooked anything outside of instant noodles," He admitted, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

Chie's competitive spirit quickly manifested, and she continued, "It could be a contest, and Nanako-chan could be the judge!" Quick to make an attempt to take Yosuke down a peg she continued, "Though I don't know if you should be trying, seeing as how you haven't ever made any _real _food."

"Funny," Yosuke replied, "I get this feeling like I'd win against you anyway."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I dunno, maybe that you suck at cooking?"

"I'll show you!" Chie fumed, never one to turn down a challenge.

"Meh, either way partner would probably end of winning anyway," Yosuke shrugged, apparently indifferent to the results of the contest. "Who knows, maybe we'll make something as good as your mom's cooking Nanako-chan!"

Upon hearing Yosuke's final words, Nanako's expression darkened slightly, and Yu's expression made it all too clear that they had crossed a line of sorts. "Mom's not here anymore," She said softly.

Yosuke blanched visibly, then attempted to stutter out an apology.

"Yosuke!" Chie whispered harshly, elbowing him in the ribs.

"It's okay," Nanako said, "She's been gone for a while now, and I still have dad and now," Her gaze shifted to Yu, "I have big bro too…"

Despite happiness that had replaced the gloom on Nanako's face, Chie felt the need to dispel the remaining awkwardness. "C'mon Nanako-chan let's go grab a soda!"

Nanako looked surprised, apparently unused to such treatment. Her expression brightening a bit, she asked, "Can we… get lemon soda?"

"Sure thing!" Chie replied enthusiastically, rising out of her seat.

"Why don't we grab a bite too?" Yosuke offered, obviously still feeling a little guilty for bringing up Nanako's mother. "My treat, Nanako-chan!" Shifting his glance to Chie he went on, "No freeloading," with Chie responding by rolling her eyes.

"Do they have takoyaki?" Nanako asked, curiosity tinging her features.

"Yep! It's pretty good too!" Yosuke said proudly.

"I don't know Nanako-chan, Yosuke might be just saying that, he does work here after all," Chie teased.

"Hey!" Yosuke shouted indignantly, offended by the mere proposition that he would lead his closest friend's little cousin astray. "Seriously Nanako-chan, don't listen to her, its good I promise!"

"Okay!" Nanako replied, smiling sweetly. Suddenly concern raced across her features, "I should ask big bro if he wants some too!"

Chie and Yosuke watched as the young girl made her way back to the table, both still coming to terms with Nanako's decidedly not very childlike behavior. Chie rubbed the back of her head sheepishly, "Man, she makes me feel like I'm the little kid!"

"No kidding," Yosuke agreed. With a serious expression adorning his features he looked at Chie. "I say whenever we can, we should spend some time with her all together. Maybe some good memories will make think less of the bad ones…"

"Yeah…" Chie said, doing her best to regain her usual cheerful expression upon seeing Nanako, who was apparently delighted to share that she was going to share some takoyaki with her 'big bro.' "Hey Nanako-chan," Chie began, "We should come out and play some other time too!"

"You… would all play with me?" Nanako asked, astonished.

"Definitely!" Yosuke answered without hesitation.

"Now let's grab some food!" Chie exclaimed, eager to get back to their original purpose of setting out.

"Man Chie, is food all you think about?"

Chie was about to protest when she noticed Nanako poorly attempt to suppress a giggle, and just this once, she let Yosuke's taunting slide.


End file.
